Captain Planet Anniversary
by ademchrome
Summary: An emergency of a different kind for our favourite Planeteers. How will they handle this new task and how will they handle the new emotions that begin to form at the same time?
1. Chapter 1 - A New Task

First fan fiction and of course it's for my favourite show growing up! This story will almost certainly have adult themes and such that will require an M rating so I'm just gonna rate it as that now even though the first chapter is pretty tame. I'm going to try and make this story comprehensive so it might be a bit slow, just giving you all a warning now so you don'y yell at me later. Please enjoy reading and reviews would help me greatly.

I don't own the rights to Captain Planet or any of its characters. This is made purely non-profit for my own literary benefit.

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"Bozhe moi!" Linka exclaimed, "honestly Wheeler, can't you just sit still for one minute?"

"Sorry babe," Wheeler had been moving about on the couch all evening. He could never sit still while watching the television.

"I think we may have to ban you from watching movies with us Wheeler if you can't stop distracting all of us," Kwame stated in a serious tone, but he grinned when Wheeler spun his head around and seemed shocked at what he'd said.

"..or rather, annoying Linka enough that she distracts all of us," little Ma-Ti had laughed when Linka shot him a glare and of course she couldn't maintain any anger towards him.

"Hey! I'm sitting on this couch too and you don't hear me complaining," Gi had raised her voice over the others and when they'd quietened down, so did she, "now can we all sit back and watch the rest of the movie before we miss any important scenes."

"That sounds great," Wheeler said while clenching his fist and pumping the air in some sort of victory sign. Gi snorted before she laughed out loud and the others joined in before they were interrupted.

"Planeteers, there's an eco-emergency. Please come to the Crystal Chamber immediately!" they all heard the familiar and motherly voice of Gaia in their heads at the same time and collectively had groaned when she'd finished. It seemed that eco-emergencies always happened whenever it was movie night!

Kwame and Ma-Ti stood up and headed towards the chamber and Gi followed soon after. Linka stood from beside Wheeler but before she could turn to walk from the couch he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to the couch next to him.

"Wheeler, let go of me," she tried to push away from him.

"Come on, babe," he started and moved his face towards hers, "just one kiss, whaddaya say?"

She made a disgusted sound before pushing him back roughly and standing up indignantly, trudging off to the other Planeteers. "In your dreams, Yankee!" she yelled before slamming the door behind her. Wheeler could hear her speaking Russian to herself until she was outside hearing range and knew that she was cursing at him.

_If only you knew how right you are Linka_, he thought to himself. Ever since meeting her, he had known that he had strong feelings for Linka. At first it was infatuation but as time went on and they grew to know each other better, it became much more than that. Their personalities seemed to be completely opposite, Wheeler being spontaneous and extroverted while Linka was calculating and introverted, but that didn't stop the feelings from growing stronger and stronger every day. Wheeler had tried to get her to like him by doing the only thing he knew how, trying to impress her with jokes and by showing off, but these had never worked on her. He didn't know how to get her to like him back, and it was almost painful to be so close to her all the time without her reciprocating his intense emotions.

Wheeler shook his head, his red hair shaking and that seemed to discard some of his worries. He stood up and began walking to the Crystal Chamber to meet with Gaia and the others. When Wheeler had entered the chamber, Gaia began explaining what the emergency was.

"Now, there's no need to panic Planeteers but there's a very serious and immediate concern that I must bring up with all of you." She paused and the Planeteers started to get a little anxious.

"Gaia, tell us what is the problem and we will fix it right away!" Kwame was always the most eager to discover whatever disaster may have struck. Out of all the Planeteers, he was the one that took his responsibility as a Planeteer the most seriously.

"Is Skumm back to his old tricks?" Gi had asked. Verminous Skumm hadn't been heard from for almost a year, even though he was the only eco-villain that wasn't currently incarcerated.

"No, nothing like that," Gaia had laughed and everyone had been taken aback, surprised by her sudden change in demeanour, "next week is your 7 year anniversary as Planeteers and I know that none of you have remembered. This is simply unacceptable and I implore you all to get together and decide on some way that you will celebrate. I am going to give you some.." she had paused before continuing, "..time off and I expect that you will have an amazing event ready to celebrate your milestone."

Everyone carefully looked sideways at each other. They didn't know if she was being serious or if she was having a joke. No-one said anything for several seconds until Wheeler spoke up, "so, there's no eco-emergency?"

Gaia had laughed at him gently, "not today Wheeler, and not for the rest of this week for any of you. Almost all the eco-villains are under arrest and catastrophes around the world are becoming less and less frequent every day thanks to your hard work and dedication. It's only fitting that you get a well deserved break and spend some quality time with each other without the worry and responsibility of saving the world at any moment."

The Planeteers all looked at each other again. Kwame seemed a little lost, unable to comprehend what had transpired. Gi was deep in thought, no doubt planning on the celebration at hand already. Wheeler was ecstatic and he couldn't keep the smile from his face. Linka, however, seemed unhappy. Ma-Ti could feel all of their emotions and he himself didn't know what to feel.

Wheeler turned towards Linka and noticed her mood first, "Hey, Linka, what's wrong?"

She seemed to jump when he said her name, as if waking from a daydream. "Oh, I'm just a little worried about what would happen if an emergency did happen during the week. What would people do?" In truth though, that wasn't what she was worried about. Gaia had spoken to her and her alone, saying that _this celebration is for you Linka_. She wasn't sure about what Gaia had meant by that and wondered what she could mean.

"Hey, I'm sure that nothing will happen. It's been months since a serious emergency and the ones that we've helped with could've easily been handled without us. Don't you worry, babe, everything's gonna be fine." He leaned over and hugged her around her shoulders. He thought for a moment that he may have been a bit too forward and inappropriate in embracing her but his fears washed away when he looked down and saw that she was looking up at him, smiling. He gave her a big smile back but he could tell that something wasn't quite right from the sullen look on her face but he released his grip from her and walked over to Gi, "Hey, Gi. What have you planned out for us?"

She seemed startled, "what makes you think that I've got any ideas?"

Wheeler, Ma-Ti and Kwame all laughed before Kwame explained, "this is exactly the kind of thing that you are always begging for Gi." Gi was notoriously trying to celebrate absolutely every event that she could. Everyone's birthday, christmas, hallowe'en, easter, you name it, she wanted a part in everything!

"Yes, well, I may have a few things in my head right now," she chuckled to herself, "and I must be honest in saying that I am really looking forward to some of those ideas."

Gaia interrupted them again, "go now Planeteers, and enjoy some time to yourselves." And she disappeared before any could respond. They knew that they could still talk to her. She was, of course, always listening but whenever she did leave they never felt the need to thank her or say goodbye. She would have known exactly what they felt and it was unnecessary.

"This is fairly odd," Kwame was the first to speak after Gaia left, which had been several minutes by now.

"I think it's fantastic! I've been looking forward to taking some time off to relax for ages now," Wheeler stretched his arms out, wishing to start his holiday as soon as possible.

"Yankee, you are on a constant holiday around here," Linka made fun of Wheeler's well known phobia of doing housework. He was going to reply sharply but simply laughed in response. He knew as well as they did that he did as little work as possible due to his laziness. It's not that he didn't want to help out, it's just that he'd not been raised to take care of his household in that kind of way.

A few moments later, the Planeteers starting making their way back to their huts to retire for the evening. It was almost midnight and they were all tired, and tomorrow was sure to be a long day as well.

"Goodnight everyone!" Ma-Ti said aloud. His hut was the closest and he broke from the others first. Everyone called back out to him and this continued on until Wheeler and Linka were alone, their huts the furthest from the Crystal Chamber.

"Goodnight Wheeler," she said softly, without looking at him before proceeding towards her door.

"Linka, wait," he called out and took a few steps towards her. She stopped and turned around, looking up and into his eyes. He really was quite handsome. Originally, she thought he was just an arrogant and self-centred American but he had shown her quite often that he could be sensitive and caring given the right situation. His blue eyes seemed like a vortex, sucking her into them and making her forget some of her problems when their eyes caught sight. His red hair had darkened as he'd grown older, a much more mature look, and his attitude on missions and around the Island had matured proportionally. His body was in good shape, he worked out almost every day, giving him strong and defined muscles. He runs every morning before breakfast and swims before lunch to keep fit. Linka didn't like to admit it but she had feelings for Wheeler that she couldn't explain, feelings that didn't make sense given the frustration that he made her feel most of the time.

"Da, Wheeler?" she asked him. She took a step forward so they were standing right in front of each other. She could smell his aftershave and could see his chest rising and falling from each breath. The closeness felt a bit more intimate than it probably should have been.

He reach forward and gently put his hand over her shoulder. "Linka, are you feeling okay? You seemed upset in the Chamber before and I hope that it wasn't because I had tried to kiss you earlier. I was only kidding around and if I made you uncomfortable then I truly am sorry for that. I.. I don't really know how to control my actions sometimes and I act impulsively. Sometimes I am grateful but other times I am not. In this case, I wish that I hadn't..."

She put her finger up to his mouth, stopping his from continuing, "Yankee, don't you think that I'm used to your inappropriate and childish advances towards me?" she stopped and saw him flinch back a little, feigning being hurt, "but please, don't blame yourself. I know you're a nice guy and I know that you wouldn't intend to hurt me."

Wheeler sighed out of relief. He dropped his hand from on her shoulder. He had felt guilty about her mood, thinking that he'd been the one to make her feel the way he'd seen her feeling. "If you're not feeling 100% do you want to talk about anything? You know, to make you feel better."

Linka giggled to herself before answering him, "Wheeler, why can't you be such a nice guy like this all the time?"

"Well," he put his hands behind his head, "it's very tiring to be such an amazing guy so sometimes I gotta mix it up a bit to keep people alert and on their toes." Back to the same old Wheeler.

Linka started to turn away in anger. She had thought he was being serious for a change but clearly he was just an immature kid still. She felt his hand on her forearm and turned back around to face him. She looked up and his face was again serious, "I'm sorry Linka. I act immature when I feel uncomfortable. I've grown up and learned to behave the way I do to keep people from getting close to me. I know that it's stupid but that's how I am. It's getting pretty cold out here, so I'm going to head off to bed for the night okay? I'll see you tomorrow Linka."

She seemed startled at his change in demeanour again. In all the time she'd known him, he'd never opened up to her about his feelings like he had. Sure, she'd heard about how beautiful she was and how much he loved her but he'd never spoken to her so seriously before. This was the kind of Wheeler that she found fascinating and attractive and she wished that he'd be like that more often.

She'd been thinking to herself for a while and noticed that Wheeler had already turned around and was several paces away from her. She stepped forward and called out to him, "hey Wheeler." He stopped immediately and turned his head. She raised her hand slightly, "Goodnight."

Even in the darkness, she could see his smile and she couldn't help but smile back. "Spokoynoy nochi," he responded in a fairly terrible Russian accent but Linka beamed at him anyway. She was always impressed when he tried to learn some phrases but he really was hopeless at learning her language. He raised his hand to his mouth and blew her a kiss. He would often do such a thing to annoy her but this time she felt a little differently about it and she raised her hand and swiped at mid-air, apparently to grab the kiss that he had blown to her. She clenched her fist and held it against her heart before turning around and heading inside to go to bed.

She closed the door behind her and fell back against it. Her heart was pounding against her chest harder than she ever thought possible. She could feel her head throbbing. What had she done?! She'd flirted back with Wheeler! In a completely unambiguous way. There was no other message that Wheeler could have made from that other than that she had feelings for him. She flicked her light on with her other hand and looked down at her clenched fist. She slowly opened it up and saw nothing in her hand but she imagined his kiss flying out of her hand and up into the air all around her before flying straight to her cheek. She put her hand up to where the kiss had landed and felt warm under her fingers. She closed her eyes and shook her head, moving forward and preparing for bed. She could not wipe the smile from her face the entire time.

Wheeler stood motionless for a moment before slowly turning around and making his way back to his hut. His mind was scattered, had she done what he thought she had? Surely not. She'd never shown any interest in him before so he must have misinterpreted her gesture. What other reason could their be though? He opened the door to his hut and closed it behind him, flicking his light on and almost tripping on a used shirt that he'd carelessly discarded on the ground several days or weeks prior. He would only make her angry if he brought it up again, so he decided to just try and forget about it. If she did love him back then he'd wait until she said so. She had a very short temper and it seemed that whatever Wheeler would say to try and calm her down would only exacerbate her anger, and that would only become worse if he tried to talk to her about her emotions. _I'll only talk to her about it if she is the one to bring it up_, he thought to himself. He threw himself on his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

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As I said before, I hope you'e enjoying so far. I've got plenty of ideas but I'd like to hear what you all think first. Review me!


	2. Chapter 2 - Seeds Of Change

I already had written this chapter and it's a little short but please enjoy reading it! More to come and please throw me some ideas or plot twists you'd like to see. I've got heaps of ideas and I'd like to see if any of you want the same things to be in the story as I do!

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The warm air flowed in from the open window, hitting her face gently. She looked up at him and screamed out as his hands explored her body. His hands were strong and powerful yet soft and gentle at the same time. Every time that they passed a sensitive point on her, all she could feel was euphoria throughout her entire body. She pushed her head forward and kissed him deeply and passionately, refusing to stop when he tried to pull back. She threw her hand behind his neck and forced him back down on top of her, feeling his body pressing up against hers. The sheets had receded from their movements and fell upon their legs before they both kicked them away. It was a warm night, made only warmer from their actions. She pushed him over and straddled his stomach. She pulled her head down and began nibbling on his ear, making her way down his neck to his shoulder before repeating this on the other side of his body. His hands were caressing her sides and moved behind her back to begin unclasping her bra. He struggled a little with the strap but it fell away from her and onto his face without too much trouble. She smiled down at him and tried to take the undergarment from him but he had latched on to it with his teeth and threw it away without using his hands. He stared deep into her eyes and ran his hands back along her sides. He slowly moved them up and across her chest before settling them on her breasts, cupping them with each hand. She bit her lip and threw her head back in one motion when he raised his head and took a nipple into his mouth. She began rhythmically grinding her hips against his unconsciously from the pleasure and knew that it wouldn't take long before...

Linka awoke with a start. Her body became rigid and she sat up in bed, shocked at what she'd been dreaming about. Her body was coated in a thin layer of sweat. Her lips were dry and she felt short of breath, but she felt amazing. She started blushing, even though no-one was around. Sometimes she had dreamed of sharing a kiss or hug with Wheeler, but she'd never had a dream so vivid and sexual about him like she had just had.

She turned to the window and saw that dawn was just beginning to break and her alarm clock confirmed this with its bright red 05:52 flashing back at her. She lifted a hand to her face and cupped a cheek with her hand. Her face was warm and she quickly pushed her fringe back over her head and pulled her legs up underneath her, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She smiled to herself, embarrassed by her dream but excited by it even more. She started to try and remember the details and closed her eyes to daydream about this when she heard a loud knock on her door.

She almost jumped up from the surprise of the sudden and unexpected noise, "Chyort voz'mi!" she swore. She quickly threw the sheets away from her and threw a gown on before hurrying to see who was at her door. She opened it and saw Wheeler jogging on the spot.

"Hey, babe," he greeted her. He was not normally awake this early in the morning, she had expected to see Kwame or Gi, seeing as they were the two early birds on the Island.

"Wheeler, what do you want? It's 6am!" she complained at him and pretended to be sleepier than she actually was. She could feel that her body was beginning to betray her and the thoughts of her dream were making her face turn red, realising that she had just a few minutes ago been thinking about his hands being all over her body. She shifted uncomfortably and waited for him to answer, trying to suppress her imagination.

"Well, I couldn't sleep much last night and decided to just wake up and go for a run and thought that maybe you'd like to tag along today. Whatcha say?".

"I don't know, Wheeler, I just woke up," she started, and continued when she saw his disappointment, "perhaps I'll join you for your swim later on. You usually go swimming at the beach before lunch don't you?"

His face gleamed in the morning sun, just now showing over the low hills. "That sounds great!" He said with great enthusiasm, "hey look, I hope that I didn't wake up you up this morning."

"Niet, I had woken up a few minutes before," Linka answered him. She liked how much attention he was paying to her feelings. It might not have been much but it made her feel important, at least a little bit.

"Oh, great, well I'll see you at breakfast then babe," he said before turning around and running towards the hills. He wouldn't be back for at least half an hour. Linka couldn't take her eyes off him as he ran away from her. This couldn't be love could it? How could she have fallen in love with Wheeler? He was so different from her that it simply wasn't funny; yet here she was, staring at his back and admiring the way that his feet kicked small puffs of dust into the air with each step. When he was out of sight she retreated back into her hut and decided that she wouldn't possibly be able to sleep now and hopped into the bathroom, preparing a warm bath to release some of her anxiety. Today was going to be a long day and she was sure that her body would need to be stress-free for it.

Technically, it was Wheeler's turn to cook breakfast but Gi knew that everyone wouldn't be opposed if she cooked it instead. On the rare occasion that Wheeler did decide to complete one of his agreed chores, such as cooking breakfast for everyone else, then it was always done improperly. Gi didn't feel like overcooked pancakes or watery smoothies this morning and she doubted that anyone else would either. She threw her morning clothes on, consisting of some slippers and a dressing gown, and made her way over to the main lodge. Her hut was the closest along with Ma-Ti's and they were the ones that did most of the cleaning and maintenance on the Island. Not because anyone else asked them to, simply because they were the ones that were the most willing. Kwame was usually working on his vegetable garden throughout the day. Linka would often be studying or reading up on something in her hut. Wheeler was simply lazy. Gi had her other pastimes such as caring for the sea creatures that were always resident at the rock pools and on the reef but she felt happy to clean the dishes or vacuum the floors without prompting.

Gi opened the large sliding door to the lodge and was shocked to see Wheeler in the kitchen preparing a, from the look of things, very sizable breakfast. She walked over and inspected what he was doing before announcing herself, "my, my, my, you are actually making us breakfast on the day that you're supposed to. I truly am shocked, Wheeler."

Without looking at her, "Little dolphin, you really should have a little more faith in me."

She quickly trudged around the bench and stood right next to him, "Is that so? And what reason would there be for me to trust that you were going to make breakfast for us when the last 20 times that you were supposed to, you never did!"

He told to her and smiled, "Gi, you are living in the past. Get with the times!" He raised his hands above his head and doubled over with laughter, causing her to do the same. "In all seriousness though, do you mind helping me with the omelettes? I don't want to ruin them for everyone."

Gi seemed a bit bewildered by his current tone. He hardly ever spoke in such a friendly or cooperative way and it was quite encouraging to see.

"No problem, pyro," she picked up the spatula and turned the omelette, seeing that it was just now starting to overcook. She took a look at his bacon and eggs and they actually didn't seem too bad. The eggs were a little irregularly shaped but they looked consistent and well-cooked. The bacon smelled delicious and looked even better.

"Just gonna get some toast on," he said and went to the pantry to get some bread.

"Don't forget.." Gi started.

"..that Kwame likes eating rye and Ma-Ti only eats sourdough. I know, Gi, I know." He returned with the 3 loaves of bread and threw some slices into the toaster. He turned to face her once done and saw her shocked look. "What have you done, Wheeler?"

Wheeler seemed hurt by the accusation. "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything wrong."

"I didn't say you did something wrong, I asked about what you had done. You never cook us breakfast and I have never seen you notice or cater for each of our dietary differences. You seem like a different Wheeler today."

Wheeler became more serious, "Maybe I feel like a different Wheeler. I dunno, I guess that I feel guilty for taking advantage of you and the others' generosity and I want to show that I'm not a useless and selfish person any more. I'm almost 24 years old now and I don't want to keep behaving like a teenager forever."

Gi was surprised again by how mature he sounded. She would never have imagined that he would have said anything like that even yesterday. "Well, I do appreciate the help, don't get me wrong," she began to say, before grinning and continuing, "this wouldn't have anything to do with impressing Linka would it?" She snuck a glance at him and she saw a momentarily blush but it wasn't as pronounced as she'd expected. Maybe he really is beginning to mature...

"I'd be lying if I said that had nothing to do with it but that's not the primary reason, no," she scanned him for sarcasm and he seemed to be telling the truth. "I want to change who I am and how I behave. I want to be a good person, Gi."

She quickly turned to him and hugged him, "Wheeler, you are a good person. You bring all of us a great deal of happiness. While your antics are frustrating and annoying and your laziness can be considered rude, we all enjoy your company immensely."

He smiled slightly before stepping back, "I'm going to find the others so they can eat. Do you mind setting the table for us?" She nodded in return and he put his hand towel on the bench and made his way outside to find the others. Both he and Gi knew exactly where everyone would be and knew that it'd only be a couple minutes until everyone was ready to eat.

Something in him had definitely changed overnight. She didn't know the reason but he had seemed sincere in his desire to become more mature. She couldn't wait to get Linka alone to tell her about Wheeler's new lease on life and knew that her friend wouldn't believe her for one second. As soon as Wheeler closed the door behind him she heard the toaster ping and she turned and grabbed the bread from the toaster. She looked at the dial and saw that he'd even changed the toaster to the right setting for the different breads. He really was trying very hard and so far, from what she'd seen, he was doing an amazing job. She started setting up the plates and arranging the food on the tables while the others made their way to the lodge.

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As before, please rate and review. Having great fun writing and I hope you'll continue to have great fun reading.


	3. Chapter 3 - Burning Desire

Kwame had already worked up a sweat while digging with his trowel. He had been tending to this particular watermelon plant for several weeks and couldn't understand why it would not grow. He started digging the plant out yet again before the ground around him got suddenly darker. He turned to his left to see Wheeler standing in front of the morning sun.

"Good morning Wheeler, how are you?" Kwame was always excessively polite, even to his friends. Some people found it snobbish but his friends simply understood that that was how he always was and always will be.

"Morning Kwame, I'm doing great. How's that watermelon plant?" All the planeteers knew about this particular plant. It had frustrated Kwame incessantly and seemed to be the only thing that he talked about with them.

"It still will not grow," Kwame threw his hands up in defeat, "I have tried everything to get it to grow properly, different locations and facings, different fertilisers... nothing works!"

Wheeler put his hand on Kwame's shoulder, "don't worry, I'm sure that it will grow eventually. Why don't you try using the internet to see if there's something that you've missed? Surely someone out there has experienced the same problem that you are. Just need to find 'em."

Kwame thought about it and nodded in agreement, "Yes, Wheeler, that does sound like a very good idea. Thank you."

"Hey, no probs!" Wheeler pointed his fingers in a gun shape at him, a common gesture simply meaning exactly what he just said, "hey, I cooked breakfast for us all. Do you mind swinging by Linka's and letting her know before it gets cold. I'm gonna go and get Ma-Ti."

Had he heard correctly, did Wheeler say that he had cooked them breakfast? "Yes, of course. I will meet you soon, my friend."

Wheeler smiled to him and helped him up before making his way towards the beach. Kwame gathered his gardening tools and put them back into the nearby shed before washing his hands and heading towards Linka's hut. She would no doubt be doing something on her computer at this time of the day. He smiled to himself as he walked, still not quite believing the behaviour and the news that Wheeler had told him.

Ma-Ti could sense Wheeler approaching him and called out to him without raising his head. "Come on, buddy, at least give me a chance to sneak up on you! You would be the worst hide and seek player in the history of humanity."

Ma-Ti laughed at him, "yes, it wouldn't really be fair would it?" Wheeler smiled back and they shook hands before performing their unique handshake by twisting their hands upwards, sliding their palms away from themselves, locking thumbs before twisting and crashing their bodies together and then bouncing away from each other and shaking their hand up in the air. They didn't know who first started their handshake but it had changed over the years into what was now a settled and well rehearsed handshake. Ma-Ti and Wheeler were like brothers and each thoroughly enjoyed being around the other.

"You are in a great mood today, Wheeler," Ma-Ti commented, "I could feel your happiness radiating from the moment I woke this morning and it hasn't stopped."

"I feel great," was all Wheeler said in response, "let's go to the lodge. Breakfast is waiting."

"Oh, I sure hope that Gi cooked that delicious, what was it called again? Kysarki?" Ma-Ti started.

"Kaiseki," Wheeler corrected.

"Yes, that's the one," Ma-Ti was literally frothing at the mouth, "that was truly the most exquisite meal I have eaten in my entire life."

Wheeler laughed at him, "Well, it won't be as good as that dish, that much is guaranteed." Wheeler knew he was a terrible cook. He was never taught and whenever he did try to make food, people would generally tell him just how terrible it always was, completely destroying any confidence he might have generated. To his friends' credit, he had been able to tell that they were enduring his cooking whenever they had to eat it but they would do so gracefully and the conversation they shared at the table was always lively and had made him feel a little better.

Kwame approached Linka's door and raised his hand to rap on the door but before he could do so he could her a voice inside. It was clearly Linka's voice but he couldn't make out what she was saying. He put his ear to the door and listened carefully over the gentle morning breeze around him.

"Mmm, Wheeler..." he could barely hear but after a couple times listening, he knew that he hadn't misheard. She kept repeating herself over and over. It was a low voice and was almost like a whisper. He didn't know what was happening so he knocked on the door quickly and called out to her.

"Linka, are you inside?" He heard immediate activity inside and about 20 seconds later she was at the door, shielding her eyes from the sunlight as she opened it. Her hair was a mess and she still wore her bedclothes.

"Oh, good morning Kwame," she seemed alert but judging by the state of her, Kwame surmised that she must have only just woken up, "what's going on?"

"Breakfast is ready in the main lodge," he told her, pausing before continuing, "do you want me to bring some food back for you, you look like you just woke up."

"Oh," she started blushing. Actually, Kwame thought, she had always been blushing but now it intensified, "Niet, um, no, I will be out in a couple minutes. Just, um, wait there.. one... moment." She seemed a little lost and she closed the door in a rush and he could hear he rushing around inside. He almost laughed at her, she was not normally this disorganised and it was funny to see this different side of her. As she promised, a few minutes later she emerged in just a throw-over shirt and a pair of pants. He held his hand out toward the lodge, "shall we?" She proceeded to walk with him, not saying a word. This really was peculiar behaviour. Both she and Wheeler were both behaving strangely, almost completely opposite to normal. He said nothing as they walked and neither did Linka.

Before long, Wheeler and Ma-Ti had both arrived at the lodge and Wheeler opened the door to allow Ma-Ti inside first. Ma-Ti entered and sniffed the air.

"Whatever that is, it smells delicious!" Wheeler could feel warmth in his heart at the compliment. He didn't know that he had been the one to make it and knew that once he tasted it, that compliment wouldn't stay the same but he appreciated it greatly. He walked through the doorway and saw Kwame and Linka approaching in the corner of his eye before the door closed behind him so he stopped and held the door open for them both.

"Thank you!" Kwame walked through first and rapped him on the shoulder as he walked past.

Linka waited embarrassingly outside without passing through the doorway. Wheeler leaned forward and held his hand flat across her back between her shoulders and gently coaxed her inside. She was blushing at their proximity and didn't say anything to him as she walked through and inside towards the others. Unsure as to what her behaviour was all about, he just closed the door and joined the others at the table, sitting at roughly the same time as Linka.

"This food looks great, Gi, thanks so much for making it," Ma-Ti had said, assuming that Gi had made it. Gi had quickly looked over at Wheeler and checked to see if he was going to say something and only saw his grin back at her before winking.

"Actually," Gi started, "Wheeler made breakfast today." Kwame knew that Gi wouldn't lie about something like that and now believed that Wheeler had been telling the truth. Ma-Ti seemed flabbergasted and Linka looked over at Gi as well. Clearly they both didn't believe her.

"You've got to be kidding," Ma-Ti exclaimed before realising how rude that it might have sounded. He quickly turned to Wheeler and began apologising, "sorry Wheeler, that was.."

"Don't worry, little buddy," Wheeler tussled his hair, "I know that my cooking is terrible. Gi helped me so it shouldn't taste too bad today." Gi knew that he was lying, she had arrived once everything was basically done already. Perhaps he was trying to be modest in case the food was terrible, she knew that he was self-conscious about failing. Linka had told her as much during one of the many hundreds of conversations about Wheeler that she had been forced to endure from her blonde-haired friend.

"Well, thanks Wheeler for cooking breakfast for us today," Kwame took the time to properly thank Wheeler. It was rare that Wheeler helped out and it seemed appropriate to thank him, especially when he had done the work without prompting. That was something of a first for Wheeler.

Wheeler turned to look at Linka and she must have been staring at him because she averted her eyes instantly. He could see that she was blushing and didn't know what to make of it. He desperately wanted her to show him some gratitude but he did not push her. Gi also noticed Linka's strange behaviour and made a mental note to herself to ask, no.. to demand, what she was thinking.

Everyone picked up their cutlery and began to eat their food. They all started hesitantly, no doubt fearing that the food tasted horrible. Even Wheeler felt a bit apprehensive. After the first bite though, everyone began eating their food ravenously. They all agreed throughout the meal that the food was fantastic. Gi commented on how wonderful the bacon tasted and Ma-Ti and Kwame said that the spices were perfect in the omelette. Linka didn't say anything but she ate quietly and was smiling while she did so, clearly she thought that the food tasted adequate as well. Wheeler was surprised by the quality of the food he made. It hadn't been as good as Gi or Kwame's cooking but it was definitely a vast improvement on the concoctions that he normally made.

There was some leftover food after they all finished their serves and they had to fight for who got to eat it. They all agreed that Gi and Wheeler should get to eat the extra food as they had been the ones to prepare it, much to the dismay of Ma-Ti.

Wheeler stood and grabbed his plate and looked over at the littlest Planeteer. He let go of his plate and grabbed Ma-Ti's instead. "You can have my share, buddy. I'm pretty full and you still look hungry."

"Wheeler, you don't need to do that!" Ma-Ti started feeling guilty, but Wheeler put his hand on his little friends shoulder.

"It's important not to overeat. Some of the world's health problems would be fixed if people stuck to that simple rule. I am no longer hungry and I can see that you are. Please, help yourself to some of the remaining food," Linka looked up at Wheeler as well as the other Planeteers. Wheeler had never given up seconds before. Never. All of them were shocked at his selflessness, but Linka could see that Wheeler truly was changing into a new person. He was maturing, and with every passing minute he was looking like a more and more beautiful person, not only in appearance but in his new personality. She blushed as quickly as she thought it and looked back down at her empty plate.

They watched as he went to the kitchen and served up some of the remaining food. It wasn't much, about a third of a serve, but the gesture was what counted and everyone understood that. "Thank you, Wheeler," Ma-Ti said and accepted his plate back, "would you like some of my bread?" Ma-Ti had a little bread and a piece of bacon along with a small amount of egg.

"Thanks, little man, but I really am stuffed," Wheeler sat back in his chair and wiped his face with his handkerchief before turning to Gi, "there's still some food left there. Sorry, but I think I gave Ma-Ti a little more than half of what's left."

Gi, unable to think of anything to say, simply stood and made her way to the kitchen and filled her plate with everything that was left. She wasn't the only one that was speechless. Linka had been for the entire meal whilst the others were so shocked at his actions so far today that they didn't know what to do. He seemed like a completely different person, the polar opposite to what he had been the day before.

Wheeler could see that Linka was eyeing Gi's plate. Gi was eating quite slowly, so there was still quite a bit remaining. Wheeler caught Gi's gaze and motioned his eyes towards Linka. She understood immediately and turned to face Linka. "Linka, did you want to share?" Gi asked her.

Linka sat up a little and for the first time during breakfast she said something, "if you wouldn't mind. The food was.. is.. amazing." Gi used her fork to shovel some of her plate on to Linka's and they both started eating again. By now, Ma-Ti had already finished his food off and seemed satiated.

"Hey! What about me?" Kwame voiced his objection, but he was smiling as he did it. He didn't mind missing out, he was happy that the others were enjoying themselves.

"Kwame," Wheeler started, catching everyone else's attention, "you can have seconds again when we all get to enjoy some watermelon!" Everyone began laughing, including Kwame. That watermelon plant had become somewhat of a mystique now and was the butt of at least 1 joke from Wheeler per day.

"Wheeler and Gi," Ma-Ti raised his voice when their laughing had tapered off, "I think I speak on behalf of everyone in thanking you both for making such a magnificent meal for us!"

"Yes," Kwame agreed, "it was a great meal and especially for you Wheeler, no offence."

"None taken Kwame, and thanks," Wheeler nodded his head humbly.

"I can't take any credit for the meal," Gi blurted out, "Wheeler made it all. All I did was set the table for us." The others seemed even more shocked now.

"You made this all yourself, Wheeler?" Ma-Ti exclaimed before Kwame continued, "I must say, you truly have impressed me today Wheeler."

Gi felt Linka's hand on hers and turned to face her. The look on Linka's face seemed like she was about to cry. Gi put an arm around her quickly and squeezed her shoulders. Wheeler saw her distress as well, but the other guys hadn't yet. He didn't want to make her feel any more upset so he distracted them both. "Hey, you guys wanna jump in the kitchen and start clearing up some of the mess I left behind. I'll bring the plates and stuff over to you guys."

"No problem at all, it's the least we can do," Kwame responded and he and Ma-Ti both quickly stood and headed off to the kitchen without realising that Linka wasn't well. Ma-Ti started gathering the pots and pans while Kwame started running a sink. Wheeler gave Gi a quick look which Gi returned and he nodded at her. She got the message and whispered something quietly to Linka. They both stood and made their way to the lounge while all the guys cleaned their dishes. Wheeler managed a quick look over to Linka and he frowned when he saw her anguish. Wheeler didn't know what had made Linka so upset, but not wasn't an appropriate time for him to confront her about it. He would only make her angrier. The best thing he could do was to stay as far away from her as possible. He'd done what he could but she needed Gi's help, not his. He sighed as he grabbed the plates and cutlery and carried them over to the others.

"Hey, do you want to make breakfast tomorrow as well?" Ma-Ti said in hope.

Wheeler wrapped his arm over the young man's neck, "this is Hope Island Ma-Ti, not Miracle Island!" before they all started laughing. Wheeler laughed along, but he still felt a twang of pain at how Linka was feeling. It surely had something to do with his recent behaviour. He couldn't stop blaming himself.

Gi carefully let Linka sink down onto the couch. Wheeler hadn't pointed out to the others that Linka was upset and normally he would have blurted something out and made Linka feel even more terrible than she already was. She couldn't stop saying it to herself but Wheeler seemed to be the perfect gentleman today. She shook her head to discard her thoughts so that she could comfort her best friend. She sat herself down next to Linka, who was now leaning forward and hugging her knees while sobbing gently into them.

"Shhhh," Gi hugged her and Linka immediately threw herself into an embrace with the water Planeteer and began crying openly. Gi could feel the warm tears on her collar. "Linka, shh, just tell me what is wrong."

"That is the problem," Linka looked up at her and wiped the tears from her face, "nothing is wrong! I think that I'm in love with Wheeler and I don't know what to do about it."

Gi hugged her and Linka started to cry into her shoulder again. Gi had known that the two were attracted to each other for a long time. They'd never explicitly said so but it was clear from their behaviour and actions towards each other that they had strong feelings. Wheeler had been open about his desire to begin a relationship with Linka but everyone, including Linka, had not taken him seriously as he flirted and joked with many other girls too but as time went on and his flirtations didn't stop and his flirtations with others started to diminish, it started to become more clear that it may have been more than just a crush for him.

In the past, Linka had gone through times where she had told Gi that she had feelings for Wheeler and then the next week Wheeler would do something crazy and she would tell her than Wheeler was an arrogant imbecile, amongst other names. Gi could tell that she had feelings for Wheeler though as she would be openly jealous of his affections towards other women and she would be genuinely concerned for his wellbeing whenever he was in danger.

But this time was different. Wheeler's actions today had proven to Gi that he was mature enough to begin a serious relationship. Linka's behaviour too had seemed more serious and genuine as she cried in her arms. "Linka, why don't you just tell him that you have feelings for him then?"

"I can't do that, Gi!" She flinched back and released her embrace, "I'm too embarrassed and scared to even know what to say and besides, Wheeler will just make me angry in a couple days and I'll feel completely different again." Gi couldn't really argue with the history of that, it had happened plenty of times before.

"What's different about this time then Linka?" Gi asked her, "I've never seen you this upset about Wheeler before and although you've told me that you love Wheeler before, it's never seemed as real as just now."

"I can't explain them, Wheeler was so sweet to me last night and this morning" Linka started blushing before her face turn solemn, "before Gaia called us to the Chamber last night, Wheeler had tried to kiss me in his usual way, by being arrogant and.. well, you know how he is." Gi could only nod in agreement. Linka started staring into space, "but after that meeting, he walked me back to me room and his behaviour completely changed. He told me things that he'd probably never told anyone, such as that he only behaves the way he does because he's insecure about himself. He's had a difficult childhood and he's forged this persona around himself to keep others from getting too close, to protect himself. He said that he behaves immature when he's uncomfortable. I've never heard him speak so seriously."

"Yes," Gi nodded, "I've noticed a complete change in his behaviour this morning. He looks and seems like he's become a, to be honest, wonderful gentleman."

"Exactly," Linka visibly frowned, "and last night, I..." She couldn't continue. She put her face in her hands and shook her head to hide her embarrassment. Gi put a hand on her nape and began rubbing to relieve some of her stress. She didn't want to push her to say something that she didn't want to be at the same time she was curious.

"If you don't want to talk about it..." Gi started, giving Linka the option to continue.

"No, I will tell you but it is so embarrassing. You must swear not to tell anyone, especially Wheeler!" Linka swore her to secrecy. Gi had hated keeping secrets but she agreed to it nonetheless by locking their pinky fingers, a childish action but one that affirmed their trust in each other.

"Last night, after Wheeler left for the evening, I went to bed and.." she paused, before turning her head away, "I dreamt that I had sex with Wheeler."

Gi yelped and raised her hands to her mouth, partly to hide her shock and partly to hide the massive grin that was on her face. "You've never dreamt of that before?" she asked when she calmed a little.

"No! Of course not!" Linka seemed like an innocent teenager for a moment, "but the embarrassing part was that when I woke up I wanted the dream to continue. I wanted to feel Wheeler's hands over me again and I've never experienced this kind of desire before, about anyone."

Gi smiled at her. "Don't be embarrassed Linky, you're allowed to have sexual desires."

"I'm not a little girl any more Gi," Linka turned to her, "I shouldn't be feeling like I'm back in school with a first crush or anything. I'm 23 years old."

"Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't have those kinds of feelings," Gi responded instantly, "there's nothing childish about it."

Linka seemed lost in thought for a moment, "yes, I suppose that you are right. Anyway, right after I woke from that wonderful dream." Linka had blushed when she'd admitted just how much she had enjoyed it. It felt nice to talk about how good she felt but she felt dirty at the same time, like she was saying something that she shouldn't be saying. "Wheeler comes and knocks on my door and asks he to join him on his morning run."

"Did you go?" Gi sat on the edge of the seat, literally gripped by the story.

Linka sighed, "no, I felt too embarrassed to spend the morning with him not minutes after the thoughts I'd just had. I saw the pain in his eyes though. It looked like his heart had been crushed. I've felt guilty all morning. I did offer to go swimming with him later though, but I don't think I can do that either any more."

"Why not?" Gi asked. It seemed like a perfect idea to her.

"After I had bathed, I sat and tried to do some study. I couldn't concentrate so I lay on my bed and tried to take a nap but all I could think about was Wheeler.. his hands on me.. his lips on mine.."

"..ok!" Gi stopped her, "I get the idea!" Gi started laughing and Linka turned away and put her hands on her cheeks to hide their red.

"Bozhe moi!" Linka said, "I'm so sorry, that's completely inappropriate. I can't believe I said.. sorry!"

"Don't worry Linka, just keep telling me what else happened."

"Well, I kept thinking about my dream from last night. Soon after, I started feeling warm and my hands started to.. explore my body," she stopped suddenly. It didn't look to Gi like she would be able to finished her sentence but a few moments later she continued, "I began masturbating." Linka stood straight up and began walking around the room frenetically. She started cursing in Russian to herself. Gi's smile would not go away. Her little Linka, doing such a thing, about Wheeler! She could have been merciless for years about this.

Linka stopped pacing and sat back down next to her friend. She just stared speechless straight at the television. "Linka, it's only natural. It sounds like you're in love with Wheeler," Gi became serious. Now was definitely not the time for any jokes about it, "like.. for real this time." Linka looked over at her and then looked back away from her.

"But why, Gi?" she said, furrowing her eyebrows, "he's so much unlike me."

"Well, in a lot of ways he is," Gi agreed, "but in a lot of ways he is very much like you too. And, I'll be honest, judging from the way he's carried himself today, that list is getting longer and longer."

Linka turned to her and smiled, "breakfast truly was a surprise. I wish I could have thanked him for it..."

"You still can, Linka," Gi hugged her tightly, "he's right there in the other room." She threw her arm up, pointing straight to the door between the kitchen and lounge.

"Hmm," Linka looked as well, pondering the thought before she slowly and gingerly stood, weak at the knees. It really shouldn't be this hard to thank him. Before passing the couch, Linka remembered and turned back to Gi, who was still wearing her great big smile, "Oh, I forgot. As I was.. you know.." she rolled her eyes and yet again her cheeks were scarlet, "..right before I was about to climax, Kwame knocked on the door and ruined it." The embarrassment was too much and Linka hurried out of the room before Gi could forge a response.

The door to the kitchen swung open and Linka could see Ma-Ti and Kwame finishing up on the dishes. She coughed and gathered herself before walking in to the room. She could see that the table was cleared and the kitchen was clean but couldn't see Wheeler.

As if sensing her question, Ma-Ti answered it for her, "he's gone to have a shower."

Linka managed a small giggle before nodding her head at him, making her way towards the door to the deck. Kwame and Ma-Ti glanced at each other, unsure as to what the heck was going on and simply turned back to completing the dishes. Linka closed the sliding door behind her and shielded her eyes from the mid-morning sun. It was beginning to get warm and the breeze felt great on her skin. She slowly started walking towards Wheeler's hut, trying to form her apologies and gratitudes as she walked, disregarding most of them as being too tacky before she'd even finished them.


	4. Chapter 4 - Enamour

Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Still 7 days until the party! There's so much more to do in that time. I told you that it'd be a long one :)

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The warm water that landed on his face felt so refreshing. He ran his hands through his hair, soaking his locks. He sighed out of relief, the morning had been stressful. He was worried about Linka and that worry had taken its toll on him. He had seen her face and somehow he knew what it meant. He knew that she didn't want any more of a relationship than what they already had and didn't know how to say that to him. He turned the tap off. He could think about this kind of thing without wasting water. He grabbed the towel from the rack and began drying himself. He didn't bother doing a good job, he was going to go to the beach soon anyway and the sun would take care of the rest for him.

He walked into his bedroom. He'd tidied up quite a bit and the room wasn't anywhere near as dirty as it usually was. He'd thrown all his dirty laundry into the wash basket and he'd organised all the clean ones. Loose papers had been put on his desk and he'd remade his bed and it had only taken about 15 minutes but it made the room look so much neater. It still needed a vacuum and a dusting and most stuff to be reorganised properly but otherwise it was quite passable. Wheeler put a singlet on and a pair of shorts and slipped a pair of sandals on before opening his door and stepping into the day. He grabbed a hat from next to the door handle and placed it atop his head before beginning to walk towards the beach, not 300m away. He could smell the fresh sea breeze and knew the wind was blowing north-westerly, straight from the beach.

He walked a few steps when he heard someone behind him call his name. He could recognise that voice anywhere and turned to face her. He saw Linka rushing towards him, almost running. He raised his hand a smiled, trying to hide the pain in his heart, knowing that he would have to let the feelings he had for her go soon, for her sake.

"Hey babe," he called when she came within a few paces, "joining me down by the beach?" Linka was going to thank him for breakfast but she decided that she'd follow through with her earlier promise and join him for a swim.

"I promised that I'd meet up for a swim this morning didn't I?" she gently touched his forearm before realising that she had and withdrawing, "lead the way."

Wheeler feigned a smile and started to walk in the direction of the beach. After a few seconds, she realised that she'd forgotten her swimming clothes.

"Oh, I forgot my swimwear," Linka realised, "do you mind if I rush back and grab them now? I'll meet you in a few minutes."

"Not at all," Wheeler raised an eyebrow.

She turned on her heels and started running back to her hut. He watched her as she ran, she seemed a lot different to how she did at breakfast. Maybe she did want a relationship with him after all. Bah! Perhaps it was best if he stopped thinking about it and just went along with whatever might happen. He began walking toward the beach, feeling the suns warmth on his skin and thinking that today would be another beautiful day on Hope Island.

When Linka arrived back at her hut, she threw the door open with a loud crash and quickly went straight to her drawer. She pulled open the bottom drawer and grabbed the blue bikini that she'd so far never worn. She'd bought it about 3 years ago to tease Wheeler and thought that now was the perfect time to try it on. Skimpy was putting it mildly, it could barely be considered clothing. She smiled as she started undressing and putting the tiny swimwear on. She'd lost a little weight in the past three years, not much only about 2kg, but enough to make a difference. The swimwear was a little tight when she bought it so now it clung to her body perfectly. Perhaps this was fate?

Linka put her other clothes that she had already been wearing back on and grabbed a large beach towel and a hat and sunscreen before rushing straight back out the door and towards the beach. Her excitement was uncontrollable and she didn't seem to realise how enthusiastic she was behaving.

She reached the beach less than 2 minutes later and easily found Wheeler resting against a big log that had somehow found its way to the shoreline. His feet dangled off and kicked at the water. He was only wearing swimming shorts, but they were dry and surmised that he must not have entered the water yet. She smiled at him and walked toward him. As she approached, he must have heard her and turned his head to look at her. He started to stand and walk towards her so she started flicking out her beach towel and laying it flat on the sand. He had reached her by the time she had set up the towel.

"May I sit?"

"Da, Yankee," Linka answered. She gently patted the ground next to where she was sitting. Wheeler took the hint and sat where she had indicated. She put her hat on her head and cracked open the sunscreen and began applying it to herself. He watched her as she did. Linka had beautiful skin. The hairs on her arms were fine and blonde, barely visible. Her skin was soft and pale without a single blemish. Her long legs were stretched out in front of her and she pulled them up towards her to begin applying lotion to them. Wheeler couldn't help but take a glance, feeling like a pervert as soon as he did and he turned away slightly when he caught her eye. She must now have known that he was checking her out.

"Do you want to use some?" she asked him once she'd finished, liking the way that he had been looking at her body. She was proud of her body and how she stayed in shape but still felt embarrassed when he looked at her.

"Um, sure," he turned his head back and accepted the bottle from her, squeezing a sizable amount of lotion on his hand and beginning to apply it to his skin.

"Wheeler," Linka put her hand on his near knee, making him stop momentarily, "I didn't thank you for breakfast this morning. In fact, I behaved terribly at breakfast this morning. I want to apologise for how I acted before, during and after breakfast."

He put the bottle down and put his hands on hers, "you're most welcome, and don't worry about it babe. I'm just glad that you enjoyed something that I cooked for a change!" She giggled and he laughed with her. He turned to begin applying more lotion and soon after he was finished. She removed her hand from his knee and sat back in the sun. It would soon be too hot for her overclothes and suddenly felt apprehensive about revealing her bikini to him.

As if sensing what she was thinking about, "Linka, aren't you getting too hot wearing that? Didn't you bring a bathing suit?"

"Yankee, you just want to see me with less clothes on!" Linka teased him.

Wheeler seemed to take it personally and began apologising, "Linka, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." He stopped when he saw her laughing.

"It's just embarrassing..." her voice trailed off.

"We've been swimming before, it's nothing I haven't seen before," Wheeler started to try to calm her down. It was true, but he hadn't seen this bikini before and she was sure that he hadn't seen anywhere near this much of her body before.

"I'm so stupid!" Linka said to herself, "I shouldn't have worn this bikini. It's not appropriate!"

"Just take your top off and cool off a little. Here, I'll turn away while you do." Wheeler turned away from her, but he didn't realise that she was embarrassed about her clothes, not about changing in front of him. She sighed and starting blushing as she slipped the shirt over her head and her shorts past her ankles. She placed them at the foot of the towel and folded her arms across her breasts, trying to disguise how much of them that Wheeler would have been able to see. When Wheeler sensed that she had finished from the lack of activity, he sat back to his original position.

"See, not so hard was it?" Wheeler turned to look at her, his eyes adjusting to the light as the sun was behind her. He realised why she'd been a little apprehensive. What she was wearing was quite revealing. He did the honourable thing and stopped looking at her body. Clearly she was regretting her attire and it wasn't right to make her feel insecure about it. "Linka, if you're uncomfortable in that bikini, do you want to go and change into another?" Linka had beamed at him, though he didn't see as he was trying to look away from her. He was behaving so gentlemanly, she would never have imagined that he'd behave this way a year ago.. a month ago.. or even yesterday! He'd have been wolf-whistling at her and saying she looked beautiful and would try to lie back to look at her ass, but not this Wheeler. He was doing everything he could to make her feel special, and whatever he was doing was certainly working as Linka couldn't help but admit to herself that she felt special around him.

"Niet," Linka put her arms over her stomach instead and lay back on the towel, trying to loosen up a little but she couldn't help but feel exposed. Wheeler followed her lead and lay down as well.

"If you insist," he said, turning his head to the side to face her as she did too. He took a glance at her body as he did, her breasts standing up above her and her stomach flat under her hands. He couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. He quickly looked at her face instead, trying his very best to keep his attention there. He could see her cheeks were beetroot red and felt a little sorry for her. She must have been trying to impress him with her outfit but she'd put herself in a position that she didn't find comfortable and now she didn't have any way of getting out of it without hurting his feelings.

"There's something different about you today Wheeler," Linka said to him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"How so?" he asked. He knew what the answer would be. After admitting to Linka last night about some of his feelings, as he walked to his room, he promised to himself that he'd start behaving as an adult rather than as a child. For too long he'd gone through life as a rebel and a trouble-maker. The time for those kind of shenanigans was over for him and it was time to be responsible, like the others were.

"I don't know," Linka started, before continuing, "you've matured so much since just last night. I don't know how to explain it."

Wheeler leaned towards her and kissed her forehead. She had thought for a split second that he was going to try and kiss her lips and prepared herself to flinch away from him. "I don't want to be a kid any more Linka. I want to be an adult. I know that my age says that I am an adult, but I want my actions to start matching my age." He turned his head back and closed his eyes, "for so many years I've felt that I've needed to behave a certain way to get people to like me but also to keep people from getting too close. The time for that is over and I'm ready to change how I treat other people, but more importantly how I treat myself."

Linka didn't take her eyes off him. Her lower eye started shedding a tear. She'd never seen him emotional before. She could see that he was in turmoil.

"I just hope that it isn't too late to repair the relationships in my life, with my family and my friends but most importantly with you Linka," he turned to look at her when he had said her name, "you're a great friend Linka and I really appreciate your company. Sometimes we fight, it's true, but that's only because we care about each other. I just don't want to fight with you any more. I'm tired of arguing with you, I want to be a better friend to you and I want you to be happy to be my friend."

She started crying now. She couldn't stop herself. She could see that he blamed himself for all the rude or insensitive or annoying things that he'd done over the years, not knowing that those things hadn't negatively impacted their friendship in the slightest. "Wheeler, don't say things like that. You're a great person, and I admire that you're changing your perspective on life, but please don't change who you are. You are a good friend and I am happy to be your friend. I'm here for you." She pushed herself up and rolled over to hug him. He put a hand in the middle of her back and she could feel him sobbing softly in her ear.

"Thank you Linka," he whispered to her. He began to sit himself up, forcing her to do the same. He wiped his eyes and stood up. He held his hand out to her and she accepted it as she wiped away her tears. Her outfit really was revealing, now that he could see it properly. He didn't ogle her too much, instead putting an arm around her shoulder and hugging her.

"Oh! You need to put some sunscreen on your back! You'll burn if you don't," Wheeler said to her.

"Da, you're right," she looked up at him, "can you put some on for me? I need to do my front as well."

"Um, yep, sure," Wheeler felt awkward. He'd never been asked to do something this personal with her before and felt a little strange about it. He reached down and grabbed the bottle again, squirting some into her hand before into his own. He gently put his hand on her shoulders and she shuddered from the cold touch. He started making circular movements, rubbing the cream onto her before moving down progressively. He tried to be thorough but not too sensual either. They were still friends and although he wanted more of a relationship with her, he didn't know whether she wanted more and it would be inappropriate to try anything now. She'd finished slathering cream on her chest and stomach before he'd finished on her back and started giggling when he started touching her sides.

"Gentle," she said, turning her head sideways to see him from the corner of her eye, "that's ticklish."

"I'm sorry," he said and he was more careful. She smiled when she turned her head back forward and closed her eyes, taking in his touches in silence, reminding her of her dream last night. "Ok, done." She heard the cap on the sunscreen snap shut and her eyes opened in a flash. She could feel a fire within her and knew what her body was telling her. She started blushing at herself and turned around to face him. The first thing he noticed was that her cheeks were flushed. She must have felt uncomfortable with his touches. "Sorry, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"Niet, not at all," she smiled and kissed his cheek, "shall we walk? I want to go to the rock pools." He nodded and took her arm in his, leading her down the beach towards the rocks. She looked up at him and saw the sun casting shadows across his face. He was beautiful and she now knew that she was in love with him. Not only was he pretty, he was sensitive and mature. He was everything that she wanted in a man. He had always been this person, but he disguised it with his behaviour. She hated that he had been brought up in an unhealthy environment and wondered to herself how much time that had cost them.

"What are you thinking, babe?" Wheeler suddenly asked. They'd been walking for 3 minutes and she had been staring at him the whole time without saying anything.

"Just thinking about how beautiful you are," she responded, before realising what she'd said. It took a couple seconds for her to realise and she stopped walking instantly and pulled her hand back to herself, "Bozhe moi, I can't believe I just said that!"

She clapped her hands over her face, hiding herself from him. She could hear him laughing and pulled her hands away to see him smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back. He grabbed her hands in his and stood directly in front of her. He pulled their hands together in front of their chests.

"Linka," he paused. The time seemed right. The mood seemed right. Everything seemed right.

"Da, Yankee?" she smiled back at him. Was this it? Was he going to ask her now?

"We..." for some reason, he couldn't speak. He knew the words but his mouth couldn't move. He stopped for several seconds.

"We...?" Linka prompted him, sensing his dilemma.

He sighed before continuing, "we should head over to the rock pools quickly, it's almost midday and it'll get too hot on the rocks soon." He stepped back and pulled her alongside him and they started walking together. He had wanted to tell her how much he loved her but for some reason he couldn't do it. Was he a coward? He'd told her hundreds of times before, why was this time different? He stopped and thought and knew that it was because this time he truly meant it and she would've known that he truly meant it. Perhaps he simply didn't deserve her love anyway, she could find a millions guys better than him. He looked over and wondered why she had a huge grin on her face.

Linka smiled to herself as she walked. She knew exactly what Wheeler was about to tell her, even though he had said something else. She could see it in his eyes, and she could see the disappointment when he changed the subject. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. She wouldn't pressure him about it, he'd tell her when he felt right about it and she couldn't wait to say it straight back to him. It felt good knowing how he felt. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to wait too long.

Pretty soon, the rock pools were upon them. Wheeler was barefoot but Linka was smart enough to bring her sandals. Wheeler gave everything he had not to stare at her body. Her bra didn't provide much support so each step caused her breasts to bounce excessively. Her panties didn't provide much cover and kept riding up so she felt like she was continuously rearranging them, even though it had only been a few times. Wheeler had hoped to himself that she hadn't noticed that his shorts had become tighter, but Linka had noticed. She didn't blame him for it though, she knew that she was quite attractive and she was scantily clad and he loved her. What she wanted most was to reach inside and feel it for herself...

"Hey, babe," Wheeler interrupted her and snapped her back into reality, "we're here." They had arrived at the rock pools and Wheeler let her hand go to climb up and over a large rock before holding his hand out to help her up. She didn't need the assistance but she accepted it anyway.

She loved coming to the rock pools. She didn't do it often enough anymore, she always had excuses as to why she couldn't. Sometimes it was because of the weather and other times it was because she had other things to do but in the end it was because she only liked coming here to share time with one of the other Planeteers. It just didn't feel right being here alone.

Wheeler started carefully walking over the wet rocks and began looking for crabs and starfish that would often habituate the pools. He wanted to impress Linka and find a nice colourful shell or something to present to her.

"Hey, don't move too fast Yankee, you'll slip and hurt yourself," Linka called back to him. He turned and could see that she was at least 20 metres away from him. Had he really gone so far so quickly?

"Sorry, babe," he called back, "I was trying to look for some stuff to see."

"Well, don't go too fast because you'll miss something or you might step on something!" Linka called back, more motherly this time.

"Yes, mother!" He called back to her and laughed. He wasn't surprised to hear her say _bozhe moi_ to herself when he did. He did follow her advice now though and started looking around more carefully and watched his step. Linka smiled to herself as she saw him slow down and knew that things between them would turn out fine.

Linka and Wheeler spent at least half an hour at the rock pools before he started complaining that the rocks were too hot. It was just after midday and the sun was right above them.

"You shouldn't have come barefoot then!" Linka yelled over to him and started making her way towards the rock where they'd entered from. She'd found a group of anemones which Wheeler poked with a stick to get them to move before Linka had chastised him. He'd spotted 2 crabs following each other and they'd watched them move about for several minutes before they must have noticed the two humans and hid under a rock. They found heaps of starfish, pretty much on every rock. The tides had been high for quite a while and a lot of wildlife could be found.

Wheeler started making his way back towards Linka and jumped from a rock to another to try and save time. He realised too late that the rock was covered in a layer of seaweed and he could do nothing to prevent his fall. His leg buckled beneath him and he threw an arm out to brace his fall. His elbow got caught against a rock and he yelled out in pain. He swore at the top of his voice and could see Linka turn around and the worry on her face hurt him more than the pain he felt. He turned away from her, unable to look at her and gritted his teeth. He tried to lift himself and managed to roll himself over and steady on the seaweed-covered rock. He inspected his arm and saw blood oozing out of the cut he had. Linka had just reached him and knelt on the rock closest to him.

"Bozhe moi!" she exclaimed, "Wheeler, are you...? Quick, let's get you back to the lodge." She stood and helped him up, making sure to lift him by his good arm. Who knows what damage might have been done. He was grateful for the help but also felt sheepish. She'd told him to be careful and he wasn't and now look what had happened to him. They slowly but assuredly made their way back to the sand and then Linka lead him back towards their belongings. She gathered up all their things and then escorted Wheeler to her hut. She had thought about going to the main lodge, but she had the necessary first aid equipment at her house and it was closer.

She pushed open the door and ran inside to grab two towels. She rolled one up longways and wrapped it above the wound. It had stopped seeping blood by now but she wanted to make sure to cut blood off to the area. She held the other towel under his arm and guided him towards her bathroom. She pushed that door open too and made him sit down on her toilet. He felt light-headed, from the lack of blood, from the heat of the day and from the stress of the situation. He threw his head back and groaned. "I don't feel well.." Wheeler said, "...just wanna.. sleep."

Linka put her hand on his cheek and softly stroked him, "it'll be okay, but stay awake for me please Wheeler."

He nodded a few seconds later and she went to the wall and grabbed her first aid kit. She cracked it open and grabbed some bandage, antiseptic and sanitary wipes. She thought about using gloves as well, but didn't bother. She ran some warm water over a wipe and started to clean away the blood from the wound. It took a few attempts as the blood had set in some areas and was difficult to remove but soon enough, the wound was clean. The cut was jagged and roughly an inch long. It was just above the elbow and would no doubt be irritating for Wheeler during its recovery. She looked at her hands and saw some of his blood on the back of her hands and under her fingernails. She didn't mind though, she might have been disgusted if it had been a stranger who she'd been helping, but with her friends, and mostly with Wheeler, she didn't mind.

She grabbed the small bottle of antiseptic and opened it before holding the dressing over the lid and upending the bottle a few times to saturate the cloth. She grabbed Wheeler's hand and squeezed it, "this is going to sting." She warned him but he already knew that it would hurt. He'd hurt himself in school a lot of times and had had to visit the nurse several times for similar scrapes. He knew that Linka would be more gentle with him than his nurse had been but the antiseptic would still hurt regardless of who administered it. He took a deep breath and nodded to her, letting her know that he was ready.

Linka bit her lip and slowly lowered the dressing to the wound, feeling him flinch back at first contact. He yelled out expletives when she continued and started rubbing the wound, killing any bacteria but also causing his nerves to scream out to his brain. She didn't want to hurt him and she wished that somehow if she had done it that it wouldn't hurt him but she knew that it had to be done to make sure that it didn't get infected and just wanted everything to be over and done with as soon as possible. She moved her hand away and saw that the wound was sufficiently clear and reached for the bandage. She started wrapping the wound and eventually finished by clipping the pin in place.

She looked up at his face and saw that he was sweating. He was looking back at her, his eyes heavy but he managed to smile. She could feel herself begin to cry and jumped up to him, hugging him tightly. She cried silently and felt his body relax, a hand reaching around her as he hugged her back. She smiled to herself and pulled her embrace away. She stopped when her face was about 10cm from his. She could feel cool air on her cheeks where her tears were and went to wipe them away. Before she could, Wheeler raised his good arm to her face and started wiping them away for her. When he'd wiped the majority of her tears away, he held his hand over her cheek and then trailed his fingers through her hair and over her ears. He lowered his hand to rest on her shoulder.

"Linka," he started, his voice cracking due to being too dry before he coughed and continued, "Linka, I.." he paused and looked deep into her eyes, "I love you, Linka." He moved his hand up her neck slowly and gently rested it behind her ear. She saw him move his head towards hers and his lips pursed and his eyes started closing. He was going to kiss her! It all happened so fast and her body took control and she did nothing to stop herself. Before long, their lips touched and they were kissing each other tenderly. She raised her hand up to grab his head in between her hands and kissed him more passionately, forcing him to do the same. He put a hand on her hip and gently caressed her body and she lowered a hand down to rest against his chest, the other hand reaching behind his head and latching on to his hair. She pulled him up and they were now standing, without breaking their kiss. He pushed her back to the wall and used his other hand to reach down and touch her behind. The hand that was touching her sides began playing with the strap of her bikini bottoms, but he wasn't trying to take them off. He pushed his body up against hers and could feel her breasts pressing up against his chest. Linka suddenly realised what was happening and gently pushed Wheeler away from her and he quickly understood that she had wanted him to stop and immediately obliged.

"Linka, I'm sorry. That was too much," Wheeler misinterpreted her and apologised.

"Niet," she traced a finger across his collar bone, "I'm not upset. I love you too Wheeler, but I'm not used to this sort of thing and I want to take things slowly. This all feels a little too fast."

Wheeler smiled when she told him that she loved him and kissed her gently before pulling back away. She smiled back, realising that he was willing to go exactly as fast as she wanted and not even a little bit faster than that. "Can you say that again?" He grinned, making her push him back from her.

"Don't push your luck, Yankee!" she teased and knelt down to pick up the soiled cloths from the floor where she'd left them. Wheeler picked up the towels and unwrapped the other from his upper arm and threw them in the wash basket. Linka picked up the first aid kit and put in back in its cradle on the wall and Wheeler wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her back into her main room. She left his embrace and sat down on the bed. He thought it'd be inappropriate of him to join her on the bed so he walked over to the chair at her desk, swung it around to face her and sat in that instead.

We just kissed and he's worried about sitting next to me... Bozhe moi, Wheeler truly has changed. She thought to herself as she watched him, perhaps for a little too long as he caught her gaze and his eyebrow lifted in surprise.

"Listen, I'm sorry that I fell. You told me to be careful and I wasn't and I ruined our afternoon," Wheeler started, changing the subject. He knew that things between them had changed permanently now, but he tried to lighten the mood a little. It felt awkward now to be around her. They been friends for many years now and now that their relationship was now more serious, they had to get used to the different feelings that they'd now be forced to share.

"Wheeler, our afternoon has not been ruined at all," she started to blush, "it's the best day I've had for a long time." Did this make them a couple now? Was she now his girlfriend? She'd never had a boyfriend and didn't know how things worked.

"Well, I guess you'd better thank me for that then!" Wheeler laughed and she joined in. It was something that the old Wheeler would have said but he said it differently. A few days ago, it would have sounded arrogant, but this time it sounded endearing instead.

"Hey, Wheeler," Linka got his attention, and he turned to her, showing that she had his attention, "where do we go from here? Am I your girlfriend and are you my boyfriend? I've never been in a relationship before and I don't really know what comes next."

"I don't know," Wheeler responded, he'd expected a question of this kind, "I've only had one girlfriend before and it was never like this. We hung out a little but it was more like a friendship than a relationship. I suppose that it is up to us as to how we define our relationship. Maybe we shouldn't really define it yet until it starts feeling right. I still can't quite believe what's happened, I'm afraid that I'll open my eyes and it'll all have been a dream. In the end, all I want is for us to feel comfortable. I'll only move forward as fast as you want to. If you don't want to kiss me again for 6 months, I'll wait however long it takes. I won't pressure you into doing anything, I just want to share my love and affection with you."

"Yankee.." she was touched, "I don't want to wait 6 months, I don't even want to wait 6 seconds!" She stood and walked towards him and kissed him again, quickly but affectionately. "That being said, I don't want to tell anyone yet. I.. it feels wrong to hide things but I want us to work things out together without them interfering, at least for the time being. And I don't know what other kinds of intimacy you want but I don't feel like I need any more than what we're sharing right now."

"Linka!" Wheeler started blushing, "I wasn't thinking of that for a long time. I'm a virgin too and that is something that I've always thought should stay until you're sure it's with the right person. I can't lie and say that I haven't thought about that but I won't lie and say that I want it right away either."

Linka was surprised. He'd been with Trish for a long time and he'd never had sex with her. Perhaps she hadn't been the right person for him, as he said. What if she was? She thought to herself and she thought of them twisting together under the sheets... "but yes, maybe we shouldn't tell anyone else what's going on until we're comfortable being with each other first. It might take weeks or even months but it might only take a day, whatever it takes is fine with me." Luckily, Wheeler continued talking and stopped her from what she was thinking about. She smiled to him and pecked him on his cheek before holding a hand out to him. He accepted and she lifted him up and into her embrace, hugging him tight to her. He hugged her back and they just held each other, hearing each others steady breathing.

A few minutes later, Linka pulled her head away and looked up at Wheeler. "Did you want some lunch? It's a bit late, the others have probably already eaten, but we could surely scrounge something."

"I do feel a bit hungry," Wheeler agreed, releasing their embrace, "but you should definitely change into something more appropriate if we're going to see the others." He looked down at her body and smiled in approval. She really was beautiful. She started blushing as she remembered what she was still wearing and made her way over to her dresser and reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. He made his way to her door. "I'll head back and change too, I'll meet you for lunch in a little while." She looked over at him, somehow forgetting that he was still there. She almost undressed in front of him! She tried to hide her embarrassment and smiled but her cheeks betrayed her.

"See you soon, dorogoy moi." He blew her a kiss and she reached out and grabbed it from mid-air. He smiled and left her hut. Her heart started fluttering as she was left alone to think about what they'd shared.


	5. Chapter 5 - My Fire

The sun felt great on her back. She often found herself sunbathing some time in the hours after lunch and today was such a beautiful day that she couldn't resist. Wheeler and Linka hadn't been at lunch with them and Gi had worried about them. Linka was in such a state earlier and Wheeler seemed different too, she hoped that they were with each other, figuring out the issues between them. Gi turned herself over, readjusted her bikini top to be both more comfortable and more concealed and lay facing up towards the sun. She gently brushed the sand off her stomach, shoulders and chest and put her sunglasses on. She closed her eyes and soaked up the warm day.

"Gi!" she heard someone call out to her. She sat up and turned in the direction of the noise, seeing Ma-Ti walking towards her. She quickly raised her hand and waved at him and saw him wave back straight away, "Gi, I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

"No, but I was wondering if we could talk a little about some plans for the anniversary party. We've got 6 days left to figure it out remember, it'll be next Saturday night!" Ma-Ti clapped his hands together and he seemed more excited than anyone else about it. Gi did have some ideas but she'd decided and changed her mind on them hundreds of times already, maybe it'd be good to share a few of them to see what another mind thought about them.

"Sounds great Ma-Ti, but did you want to meet up at the lodge in a few minutes? I'm gonna go head back to my place and freshen up a little."

"See you soon!" he stood straight away and hastened back to the main building. She watched him walk away and couldn't help but smile at the youngest Planeteer. He'd grown up so much since joining them, he was only a little kid when he first started out. Each of the Planeteers had left their mark on Ma-Ti and he became a man that had the best of each of them. She began standing and brushed most of the remaining sand from herself, making her way back to her room and heading back towards the lodge. She opened the door to the kitchen and saw Wheeler and Linka at the counter, preparing themselves some food.

Wheeler and Linka had both agreed to make themselves some rolls for lunch using some ingredients from Kwame's vegetable garden. They had each shared the duties in the preparation, laughing at each other and being very friendly towards each other. Wheeler had put a hand on Linka's hip to gently push her slightly sideways to reach into a drawer to grab a knife and she'd teasingly bounced her hip back at him. He laughed but he didn't touch her any more beyond that, figuring that she may have found it inappropriate or uncomfortable, especially given that any of the other Planeteers could walk in on them at any moment. Not a couple seconds later, Gi had walked in the door.

"Gi!" Linka called out to her, "how's your afternoon? We're making some rolls, did you already eat?"

Gi was glad to see that Linka's mood had improved and, given her proximity to Wheeler, surmised that he had something to do with that. "No, I already had some soup for lunch but thank you anyway! Have you guys seen Ma-Ti?"

"Yes, he's in the other room," Wheeler pointed towards the lounge and started slicing some tomato. Gi started to make her way towards that door.

Linka said something quietly to Wheeler and turned to call back out to Gi. "Gi, can you wait up for a second?" Linka dropped what she was doing and put her hand on Wheeler's forearm. Gi tried not to think anything of it but the action seemed romantic more than friendly. When Linka had approached her, she continued talking though much more softly, presumably not to be overheard, "I have something to tell you, but not now. What are you doing now?"

"I'm gonna talk to Ma-Ti about some anniversary ideas."

"Oh! Fantastic, did you want to talk about it here while we eat. Wheeler and I would surely have some ideas to share too."

Gi smiled back, "sure, I'll just go and get him then. What did you want to talk to me about?" She hated secrets.

Linka blushed, "I'll tell you later." Gi was suspicious but decided not to push it. She'd already opened up to her earlier today and maybe she'd had something else awkward happen. Linka would tell her eventually, she just hated waiting to hear it.

"Alright then, keep your naughty little secret!" Gi teased her while laughing, but when Linka started blushing deep red, she knew that she mustn't have been far from the mark, "I'll be back soon." She gave her a quick hug and went to speak with Ma-Ti. Linka made her way back to the kitchen bench and began assembling her roll. Wheeler had already finished the preparations, all that was required was to assemble the roll.

"So, did you tell her?" Wheeler had guessed as to what she'd planned.

"Niet, not yet. It didn't feel right," Linka sighed and closed the top of her bread. She didn't even realise that she hadn't mentioned to Wheeler about what she had been meaning to tell Gi, he had just guessed for himself.

"Don't worry, babe, you'll know when is right," he put a hand out to guide her to the table and they both sat down to eat. He changed the topic to that of her recent studies. He liked the way she talked about quantum theory. Even though he had no idea what she was talking about, she seemed happy to talk and he was happy to listen.

"You're not even listening to me!" she yelled at him. She'd been talking for at least a minute and had simply been watching her.

"Of course I am," Wheeler put his hand on her chin, "I just like listening to your voice."

"Oh," she turned away and brushed her hair over her hair, embarrassingly. He reached his hand back to her chin and pulled her face towards him, leaning forward to kiss her. Just as their lips were about to touch, they both heard the door behind them click.

Ma-Ti was sitting on the lounge flicking through the channels without really paying much attention. He was just passing the time while waiting for Gi. He'd walked in the kitchen before and he'd felt a rush of happiness when he saw Linka and Wheeler together, his ring felt warm around his finger and he'd never felt such a thing from it before. He had greeted them and their smiles proved infectious and he couldn't help but smile along with them. They spoke briefly before he excused himself to the other room, leaving them to continue their meal preparations. He didn't understand how women could take so long in getting ready, for him it only took at most 5 minutes to freshen up but Gi and Linka seemed to take at least half an hour every time. He shook his head as another channel flicked over and hastily turned his head when he heard the door behind him creep open.

"Gi!" Ma-Ti stood and switched the television off, "you're finally here!"

Gi looked at him disapprovingly, "it was not that long, and I was held up a little."

"I'm only kidding, of course," Ma-Ti laughed at her. She took offence so easily.

"Hey, listen, Linka suggested that we join them in the kitchen as they have some ideas to share too. Shall we?" She'd phrased it like a question but somehow Ma-Ti knew that it was a command.

"Absolutely," he smiled, "the more the merrier!" They both made their way towards the door to see Linka and Wheeler pulling themselves away from each other quickly. Gi was behind Ma-Ti so she probably didn't see as much as Ma-Ti saw but from what he could see they had either been whispering to or kissing each other. Judging from their history, he erred more towards them whispering to each other as whenever they seemed to get close to one another, they'd break out into a huge fight and take weeks to become friends again.

Both Gi and Ma-Ti made their way to the table and sat opposite the wind and fire Planeteers. They were both blushing and were trying not to look at each other. Linka grabbed her sandwich and began taking small bites. Wheeler had already taken some large bites and seemed content to just talk for the moment.

"So, you guys are brainstorming about the party next week?" Wheeler started, "what ideas did you have?"

"Well.." Gi started, "we are just now talking about it for the first time, so we haven't really decided upon anything. I figure that since it is our party it should be all of our decisions, not just one or two of us."

"In that case, shouldn't we go and get Kwame?" Linka queried.

"Oh, you missed lunch didn't you," Ma-Ti said, "Kwame took the cruiser out to Africa for a couple days. He's going to visit his family while he has some spare time. He said he'd be back by Tuesday."

"Can we really make plans without him?" Linka worried.

"We asked him that already," Gi assured her, "and he told us not to worry and that he'd be happy with anything that we decided."

Wheeler chuckled, "yeah, that does sound like something Kwame would say." The others joined in his laughter.

"I guess the first thing we should decide is where do we want it?" Ma-Ti started. They talked for at least an hour about many aspects of the party. They didn't finalise many things but they did decide that the party would be held at Hope Island on the Saturday and that all their families could come along. It was going to be an evening affair with a light dinner followed by an after-party with drinking and dancing. They didn't know what style they were going to go for and whether they'd allow alcohol but they decided that it should be a unanimous decision from all 5 Planeteers if they were going to make decisions like that.

Wheeler stood and collected his and Linka's plates to take them to the kitchen sink. He began washing up and sensed someone coming up to join him. He turned to see Gi next to him.

"Hey, mermaid, how you doing?" Wheeler turned back to his dishes and scrubbed at the plate before him.

"I am well," Gi hesitated, "hey, Wheeler." Her voiced trailed off and Wheeler turned to her again, letting her know that she had his attention, "what's going on between you and Linka?"

Wheeler was taken aback. He quickly turned away and responded, "that's something you should be asking her."

"Why can't I ask you? I'm asking about both of you."

Wheeler sighed and put the plate upright on the stand to dry. He dried his hands and leaned against the bench and faced her. "We have been working out our differences today and it's been hectic and emotional and I don't want to get into any of the details about it, those kind of things are best left to Linka to discuss with you when she's good and ready. It's not your business what is going on between us, and I don't want that to come across as rude but until she is ready to talk about it then I'm not willing to talk about it either. I'm sure you can respect our privacy in that regard. I will say one thing though, please don't try to push anything out of her. I've spent the last 7 years trying to force her to open up to me and it has done me no good."

"I'm not trying to upset you Wheeler, I just want to understand," Gi answered him, "I care deeply about both of you and I just want you both to be happy. This morning, Linka was a mess, but now she seems fine and I don't want her to be quite so unstable. I want to be there for her."

"Gi, you are there for her. She wants to open up to you, so just give her some time and space and above all give her a calm environment. I'm only now just realising how important that is with Linka. She's a great woman but she is stubborn. Boy, is she stubborn."

Gi and Wheeler both laughed, "Yes, I definitely can agree with that." They both turned to look at Linka. Her shoulders were bouncing as she laughed at one of Ma-Ti's jokes. Her fringe blew across her face with the warm air flowing through the windows, making her constantly run a hand over her ear to try and hold her hair in place. "Whatever happens Wheeler, don't hurt her."

Wheeler stared into Gi's eyes and nodded back to her, "Not a chance," he promised. She nodded back to him and went back to the table to join the others. Gi didn't know what was going on but she was no fool. She must have suspected that they were more than friends, or planning to be more than friends. She didn't want either of them to get hurt, especially Linka who was like a sister to her. Wheeler turned back to the sink and continued the dishes, finishing shortly before hearing that Gi and Ma-Ti were going to their huts for the remainder of the afternoon. They shared farewells and left Linka and Wheeler to each other.

Linka looked over at Wheeler and gave him an awkward smile before taking his hand in hers. He squeezed back, letting her know that he was there for her but didn't take any further move of intimacy. He opened his mouth to speak before stopping and shutting it again.

"What is it, Yankee?"

He had no choice but to tell her now, "Gi asked what was going on between us before." He turned his head towards her and continued, "she is worried about you. I think that she feels she's not there for you enough. Maybe you should go and sit down with her later and just.. talk, about whatever comes to mind."

Linka pursed her lips and nodded back. She knew he was right but still felt uncomfortable about it. "I will."

"She suspects something between us, you know," Wheeler continued.

Linka laughed, "Da, of course she does, she's been trying to get us together for years."

"You know what I mean," Wheeler let her hand go and swivelled to face her, "she suspects something more than that. She told me not to hurt you."

"Oh really," Linka smiled, "and what did you say to that?"

"I told her that there's not a chance that I would," Wheeler grabbed both of her hands in his and held them up in between them, "and I never will."

Linka's eyes glazed over, her tears forming but she didn't cry. She moved forward and rejoiced when his warm lips touched hers, their kiss confirming their love for each other, "and neither will I, Ogon moi."

Wheeler hugged her to him and then started to walk with her back to her hut. He didn't know why but he wanted to take her there. "Ogon moi, huh? What does that mean?" He asked her as they walked.

She rested her head against his chest and teased him, "maybe one day I will tell you."

"You realise that I could just go on the internet and translate it."

"You wouldn't dare!" she stood upright.

Wheeler only laughed, "it has _moi_ in it so I'm not too fussed. I know that means that I'm yours."

Linka smiled again, "Da, you are mine." He felt her squeeze him tighter and a fuzzy, tingly feeling surfaced in his stomach. He'd waited so long to hear her say things like that and the love she had for him made him feel on top of the world. Before long, the couple had reached her place and they stood awkwardly at the door.

"Um, did you want to.. come inside?" Linka tentatively asked him. She had wanted it to sound like a friendly gesture but by the end she had feared that she had sounded somewhat more provocative that that.

While Wheeler had really wanted to share more time with her, he knew that he should give her some space. "I would love to, but I should give you some time to yourself this afternoon. I'll see you at dinner though." Linka had felt sure that he would jump at the chance to come in, but felt surprised when he declined. In a small way, she felt proud at the same time. He was respecting her wishes to take things slowly but in some respects she felt he was trying to take things slower than she wanted. All she could think about was holding him and kissing him for hours, sharing their embraces throughout the warm summer days and waking up in each other's arms in the balmy mornings.

"Da, okay, I shall see you later," she instinctively responded to distract herself from her thoughts. Wheeler smiled back to her as he watched her close her door. He turned back towards the main lodge and made his way there. He had a phone call to make.

* * *

I hope everyone is enjoying the read. Sorry for the delay in this chapter and for the lack of storyline. I've been busy and don't have as much free time as I'd like. More to come of course and I have a few ideas that will leave you on the edge of your seat.. or the edge of your bed.. or the edge of your couch, wherever you're reading this from!


	6. Chapter 6 - Best Friends

Seeing as how I'm kind of preoccupied at the moment, I'm going to shorten the chapters a bit to give you (I hope) less of a wait for them. Thanks for viewing and especially for reviewing though. The positive feedback really does keep me going!

* * *

"Hello? Who is it?" she called out when she picked up the receiver. She'd been in the shower and the phone had rung out 2 times already, whoever was calling was desperate to speak to her. She smiled when she heard a response, "Oh! How are you, son?"

"Mom, I'm doing well," Wheeler had responded, "what about you?"

"Things are okay," she sighed. Times had been tough. Stressful but manageable. "A little stressed but I'm glad to speak to you, it feels like ages since we last spoke."

"Yeah, it has been a while," his voice trailed off, regretting how little he'd made contact with her, "but listen mom. I've got the week off over here and I was planning to come up and visit for a couple days later this week. Do you think that'd be okay with you and dad?"

"Wheeler, that sounds great! I'm sure that will be no trouble," she was rejoicing. She hadn't seen her son in years and missed him greatly. His father wouldn't feel quite the same but she knew that he missed him too.

"But, um, mom?" he hesitated.

"Mm, what is it?"

"I was thinking of bringing Linka too," she could tell he was embarrassed by how quickly he was talking. She could barely hear what he had said.

She just smiled in response. She hadn't met Linka but whenever she talked with her son, it seemed that she was all that was on his mind. Everything that they talked about would come back to Linka somehow. "Son, there's room enough for both of you here, but you'll probably both have to stay in your room unless you want to sleep on the couch."

Wheeler had slept on that couch before and he never wanted to repeat that experience. It was quite possibly the worst piece of furniture in the history of mankind. "I'll think of something," was all he said in response, "thanks, mom. I'll call you again to confirm a time before we leave."

"Ok, Wheeler, I'll talk to you soon," she bid him goodbye, "I love you."

"Love you too mom," she heard the receiver click and hung up behind him. She immediately went to wake up her husband, and after a few minutes of complaining, he seemed happy enough to know that his son was coming to visit. She went straight out to the main living area and began cleaning up. She couldn't have Linka seeing the bomb site that they lived in, she had to at least pretend that it was an organised household.

She stirred gently in her sleep. She was a light sleeper and pretty much any noise caused her to stir. Someone knocked gently on her door but it was so soft that it didn't wake her from her rest. A few seconds later, the knock repeated but much louder and Gi's eyes shot open straight away. She called out to let the guest know that she had heard before throwing the sheet back from on top of her and rubbed her eyes softly. She'd just lay down for a little bit, for some reason she was exhausted this afternoon. She twisted and her feet dangled over the side of her bed and they found her slippers. She stood and made her way to the door, opening it slowly. The door wasn't locked but whoever was there had the courtesy to wait to enter nonetheless. When the door opened the entire way, she saw Linka standing in front of her. She must have slept for longer than she thought as the sun was quite low in the sky and it was now a lot cooler than it had been when her eyes had closed.

"Linka!" she hugged her friend, "please, come inside." She retreated back inside and Linka accepted the invitation, both of them sitting next to each other at the foot of her bed.

"Sorry to intrude on you, Gi, but I just want to talk for a while," Linka started talking.

"You don't have to be sorry, you're my best friend," Gi chuckled. Linka smiled back at her, knowing that she was right. They were great friends and Linka always seemed to be apologising for things that she really didn't need to. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, that's the thing," Linka started and didn't continue so Gi spoke back up.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know," Linka repeated, not clarifying at all, "my mind is a bit crazy at the moment. I'm a bit emotional and stressed and I think I just need to talk for a bit and who better than you, Gi."

"Oh.. My.. God!" Gi started, "you're not pregnant are you?!"

Linka sat upright immediately and seemed to take offence, "Absolutely not!"

Gi just laughed back at her, "I'm only kidding of course. But I know that you are Wheeler are getting close."

"What makes you say that?" Linka queried. She didn't seem upset about the question, which led Gi to believe that she was both willing to talk about it and curious as to how she knew. Gi had kind of been hoping that Linka had got embarrassed about it so that she could tease her but both she and Wheeler had really impressed her lately.

"Well, you've been spending a lot of time closer together and I don't just mean spending time together, I mean that you're pressing yourself a lot closer to Wheeler. I've known you long enough to know that you have a comfort zone and Wheeler has been inside that comfort zone for all of lunch and you never let him there."

Linka mulled to herself. She'd never thought about it that way but now that Gi mentioned it, she didn't let people get into close proximity at all, the only ones she did were all the Planeteers except Wheeler and her family. Now, it seems, Wheeler was welcomed too. Gi interrupted her thinking when she continued to speak, "and you told me earlier about your feelings for Wheeler being much more intense," she paused for grinning and continuing, "...so to speak."

Linka blushed in return but she maintained eye contact, "it feels different with Wheeler this time. It's difficult to explain."

"I understand," Gi patted her on the shoulder, "it feels like you're both ready to finally take things seriously. You know that I've seen the love that you have for each other pretty much since you first met but you've never believed me or taken Wheeler seriously enough to give him a chance."

"That's because he's a selfish and arrogant pig!" Linka yelled out, feeling like Gi had been criticising her.

"Linka, sometimes he was but you have to admit that you've closed your heart off to him on purpose for many years now and you have to also admit that you've felt something for him for a long time too. I wasn't trying to blame you for the way things have turned out, I'm just trying to say that it hasn't just been Wheeler who has made the relationship impossible." Linka frowned and nodded. She had wanted to start something with Wheeler for a while now, at least a year. Things had felt right but she never let him in.

"Wheeler can be a bit aloof at times, not being very approachable for someone like you and, let's face it, being a selfish and arrogant pig!" Gi and Linka chuckled together. He certainly could be. "But there's a lot of kindness in him and he's tried to make you see how he feels about you, I just don't think he realises how he needs to speak to girls, and especially to you, to get them to open up. Well... until now I guess." Gi winked at her, making Linka scratch at her neck uncomfortably.

"He's changed today.." Linka trailed off. Both she and Gi had noticed the distinct and dramatic change in his behaviour since just last night. He still spoke in the same voice as the old Wheeler but the tone and manner he took when speaking seemed as though he'd grown 10 years inside.

"You needn't tell me twice. He made breakfast this morning! Without prompting and he made the food well. If that doesn't tell you anything then I don't know what will!" They laughed to each other, realising the humour and the truth in the statement at the same time.

When they calmed themselves a little, Linka turned serious and spoke, "Wheeler and I kissed earlier today."

"What do you mean by kiss?" Gi's curiosity peaked.

Linka knew that skipping straight to the end of the story would simply not satisfy Gi, so she started from the start. It took her at least half an hour to recount the day with her friend, mainly due to her friend interrupting her story all the time. Gi covered her mouth with her hands in shock at the explanation of how she and Wheeler had kissed.

"So, you just broke the kiss off?" Gi was literally sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well, I suppose so. He was really nice about it, he apologised thinking that he'd done something wrong. It was so sweet and I felt guilty, like I was hurting him just because I am inexperienced in these kinds of things."

"What did he say?" Gi asked.

"Well, he said sorry and thought that he'd gone too far," Linka explained, "I told him that that wasn't it, that I actually did like kissing him and I did want to do it. I just told him then that it all felt a little too sudden and quick. He took it so well, saying that he was happy to go at whatever pace I wanted. Now that we've agreed to slow things down though, I kind of feel like I want things to speed up a little..." her voiced trailed off.

"Linka! You are so dirty! Thinking of such things with Wheeler!" She was only teasing her but Linka's response blew her mind away. She just cocked her head a bit, raised her eyebrows and grinned, indicating that she agreed. "What can I say, he does strange things to me."

"Linka!" Gi was going to continue but she couldn't think of anything to say. She couldn't believe it, but Linka reminded her of Wheeler a bit just now.

Her demeanour changed quickly as she continued, "but in all seriousness, although I do want to take things further with him, I still don't trust my feelings completely. In all honesty, I still don't trust him either."

"Linka, don't say that.." Gi started.

"No, I just mean that I want to make sure that my feelings are real."

"I understand that, but what makes you say that you can't trust him? He's a nice guy at heart." Gi knew that Wheeler was brash but he was a nice guy, and certainly wouldn't hurt Linka.

"Yes, I know that but he's hurt me in the past, I don't want my heart broken."

"Trust me Linka. Those times you've fought have been due to both of your sexual frustration, not because he's meant to hurt you."

"But if we take things slowly I'm afraid that will happen again. I need to know that we can survive through that," Linka was trying to protect herself, Gi knew. She was inexperienced in love and Gi wondered whether she trusted her own feelings. Linka trusted logic and reason due to their factual and observable results. Feelings often weren't logical and weren't sensible. It'd take time but Linka would begin to trust her feelings.

"Linka, I don't want you to get hurt either and it's up to you as to how you want to live your life. I don't want to convince you to do something that you don't want to but you have to trust your instincts sometimes. In your heart, you can feel that you can trust Wheeler and nothing bad will happen but at the same time your mind is telling you to err on the side of caution, right?"

Linka nodded in response, not needing to say anything. Gi had pretty much nailed it. She was a cautious person by nature but she couldn't deny that every core of her being wanted to let Wheeler in, wanting her to share herself with him both physically and emotionally. "If you're still unsure, you should probably stick with what you have done in the past, though. It's got you this far and hasn't proven wrong so who's to say it won't work now? Personally though, I feel that people should just flow wherever there heart takes them. I guess that is just my naïvety."

"Gi, you're not naïve. You're a trusting person. You see the best in people and give them the chance to shine. That is your strength but that's not how I am. Your way works for you and you should continue doing so, but that's not my way and that's probably just going to end up hurting me."

"I suppose that you're right. If only we could both be somewhere in the middle."

Linka laughed, "but then where would all the fun go?" Gi smiled back at her friend and nodded. It would be pretty boring if everyone were the same. That's one of the reasons that the Planeteers had bonded so strongly and got along together so famously. Each of them were different, with different styles and characters. Each complemented the other and as a team they became much like Captain Planet himself, a true and cohesive unit.

"Linka," Gi started, "if I can offer some advice though. If you are going to take things slowly, at least be honest with Wheeler. Although his behaviour has changed so much for the better, he wants things from you and if you speak with him about them, however embarrassing they may be, then at least he won't feel rejected."

"Gi, I plan to be as forthcoming as I can possibly be. I'm not complete fool, I know that he's going to want to have sex with me, he probably already does. Heck, I already want that with him, but the time for us to do such a thing needs to be right and right now feels wrong."

"I just don't want either of you to get hurt..."

"I know you don't, neither do I. But I also don't want to feel forced into doing something that I don't want to do. I trust my feelings but I need my mind to be clear as well. That's just how I am and if Wheeler can wait and understand that need to wait then that will be better for us in the long-term anyway. I'm not going to change in the future so he'd better get used to it, and to me."

Gi laughed. She hadn't thought about it like that and that did make sense to her, "you tell him who's boss, sister!" Linka laughed alongside her friend and drew her into an embrace. Wheeler was right. She did need to talk to her friend, to clear her mind and speak of the thoughts that plagued her. Gi had a different perspective than she did and often when they spoke, each of them would see things differently and in the end they'd agree that both were right in some ways, seeing the good in each side.


	7. Chapter 7 - Tragedy

I wrestled with myself for a long time as to whether or not this chapter was a good idea or not. Sorry about the wait for this one but I'm sure you'll understand why it took so long for me to write.

* * *

Ma-Ti had decided to take a walk this afternoon. It wasn't particularly hot today but it was sunny with a very refreshing cool breeze. He threw on his hat and he'd already applied sunscreen. He pushed open his door before rushing back inside to grab his water bottle and then made his way down the path into the trees. The forest wasn't particularly dense, nothing like what he was used to in the Amazon, as plenty of sunlight reached the ground to illuminate the shrubbery and the path before him. It had rained the morning before so there was a saturated, dewy smell in the air that Ma-Ti always loved. He reached his hand out and ran it through the leaves of a fern tree as he walked by. They felt soft on his palm and the sensation calmed him for some reason. Everything about this Island calmed Ma-Ti down, except the Planeteers of course. Every emotion that they felt, he could feel. Most of the time it was pleasant but whenever there was an argument, Ma-Ti would always be able to feel everyone's pain amplified. He got chronic headaches from the stress. He had spoken to Gaia about it and she said that it was a side-effect of the gift he'd been given. The only remedy, she said, was to make everybody think happy thoughts instead of unhappy ones. Well, Gaia might not spent that much time personally with the Planeteers but surely she knew that making them all harmonious was no easy task.

He started humming to himself, a childhood tune that just jumped out at him. His mother used to lull him to sleep to the sound and it was almost like a form of soothing whenever Ma-Ti needed time to think. Before long, Ma-Ti encountered the familiar waterfall. He would often come here to relax. He wasn't sure if any other Planeteers knew about it but he'd never seen any of them so he just assumed this was his secret. There was a rock just in front of the waterfall that was a short jump away from the river bank. The waterfall wasn't that large, but the sound of the water splashing down behind him was enough to make anyone happy. Ma-Ti rested his head back and closed his eyes, still humming his lullaby to himself. He could feel sleep taking him and fully embraced it.

Wheeler lowered his magazine. He'd been reading it for twenty minutes but he couldn't remember anything that he'd read. He sighed and threw it on to the pillow next to him, rolling himself away and wriggling until he felt comfortable. Wheeler had been thinking about the upcoming party, knowing that whilst everything would get done eventually, as Gi would have it no other way, he felt like he should do something extra special for them. Ideas kept floating into and out of his head and nothing seemed right. He closed his eyes and tried to catch some sleep. The time off Planeteering had made him feel lethargic. Saving the planet had kept him busy for most of the time and now that that was taken away from him, he had a lot of time to just think to himself and all he could think about was Linka and the upcoming party.

He rolled back over and shook his head, trying to clear it from his thoughts but a few seconds later they returned and all he could see on the inside of his eyelids was Linka in her bikini this morning. The way the panties clung to her and rode up as she walked. The lack of coverage they provided to her cleavage. The feeling of his hands running over her flawless skin. He realised the effect his thoughts would soon have on his body and soon after his erection began pushing ruthlessly against his shorts. He thought about relieving himself but just turned on to his back and for some reason he thought about Ma-Ti. He opened his eyes and hoped that he wasn't about to fantasise about him but a different feeling started to take hold of him. For some reason, Ma-Ti was in danger and Wheeler could only spectate as the fear and concern built in him.

Quickly, Wheeler stood up from sleep, thankful that his manhood had diminished substantially. He threw a shirt on and started walking toward the forest. He didn't know why he went there but he trusted his instincts and listened to his heart. As the feelings kept growing, his movements started becoming more anxious. What kind of trouble could the little squirt be in?

"Ma-Ti!" Wheeler called out. No-one responded. Maybe he was losing his mind a little? He called out again and again nothing happened. He increased his pace to almost a run. He felt sure that Ma-Ti was in danger but he had no idea why he felt that way. All he knew was that he was running out of time to save his friend.

He kept following the path and he could hear water flowing in the distance. He took a left and starting walking through the forest. He pushed the trees and bushes out of his way and tripped on the uneven ground a few times before he encountered the river. It was probably only a couple metres across but the water was flowing quite quickly and he didn't feel safe to walk through it. He followed the bank upstream and a few minutes later he came across a large lake.

He'd never known about this lake before, you couldn't see it while flying above on the geo-cruiser and he rarely ventured off the paths through the woods enough to find this place. He took a quick look around and saw that the water was all coming from a waterfall on the other side of the lake. He squinted a bit and saw Ma-Ti lying down against a rock that was just beside the waterfall.

"Ma-Ti!" Wheeler cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled. There was no response so Wheeler quickly started making his way around the lake, fearful of going straight in the water and getting dragged down the river. He didn't know the condition of his friend so he went as fast as he could, for all he knew Ma-Ti might already have been dead. About a minute later, he'd got as close to Ma-Ti as he could get. He'd noticed that the water level was almost at Ma-Ti's feet now and he didn't know how the little Planeteer had made it to the rock in the first place. It was a good 6-7 metres away from him.

"Ma-Ti!" Wheeler yelled again, as loud as he could. He saw his friends head move and yelled again. Wheeler was relieved to see that Ma-Ti was still alive, any fear that he was dead left him but was replaced by the new fear that if he didn't get off that rock then he might well be dead soon. Ma-Ti lifted his head and shook it in tiredness.

"Wheeler?" He asked back groggily and turned his head.

"Ma-Ti! You gotta get off that rock buddy," Wheeler called out. Ma-Ti looked around a bit and quickly stood up. He was a long way from his friend and all the little rocks he'd used to jump onto his favourite rock were all submerged. The water level must have risen about a metre since he'd closed his eyes. The water was almost like a torrent now and the waterfall was about 3 times wider than usual. He thought back to the night before last and remembered how terrible the storm had been. Several trees near the main lodge had been blown over from the intense winds. That must have been the downpour that just now was finding its way down the mountain.

"The water has risen so high, Wheeler, I can't make it back!" Ma-Ti started to get worried. The water didn't show any signs of slowing down and within minutes he would be swept down river and surely to his death.

"Don't worry, little man, I'll get you out of this," Wheeler reassured Ma-Ti and quickly started looking around for any overhanging branches. He saw plenty but they were all too small to support a persons weight. He scrambled up and around the hill to stand next to the mouth of the waterfall. Looking around, he noticed a large log that was leaning up against another tree on his side of the river. He made his way over to it and tried to push it across the river. He could only manage to budge it slightly and his arm was too sore to push it properly.

"Wheeler, where are you!" he heard Ma-Ti call out to him, his tone suggesting that he was scared.

"I'm still here! I'll get you out of there in just a moment," he finished talking and threw his entire body into the log, causing it to roll away from the tree. He started rolling it towards the waterfall, luckily it was downhill. He pushed it until it was visible to Ma-Ti down below. "Is that going to make it to you?" he called down to Ma-Ti.

"Yes, but I won't be able to hold on to it," Ma-Ti yelled back. He was right. The log would just smash into the rock and continue on down the river, probably taking Ma-Ti with it. Wheeler desperately tried to push the log sideways so that it might bridge the gap between the rock and the bank where he'd been previously standing. After considerable strain and pain in order to do so, he managed to get it on a proper line but it was now wedged against another log jutting out at the cliff-face. He pushed it so that it was resting mostly on the smaller log and ran down to where he was, closest to Ma-Ti.

"Are you ready, Ma-Ti?" Wheeler eyed the little Planeteer and he could see the terror staring back at him, "don't worry, it'll be fine, just grab hold of the log like I will to keep it from flowing on down the river. Trust me, it'll work." The fear was still there but due to Wheeler's encouragement, he could see the courage on Ma-Ti's face as well.

"Ready when you are," Ma-Ti yelled out as he could feel the water reaching the bottom of his sandals, touching his heels and making him shiver from how cold the water was. Wheeler hoped that this worked. He'd acted confident but he wasn't so sure that the log would work to save Ma-Ti but he had no other ideas and they were out of time and this was the best he could come up with.

"FIRE!" he yelled, causing the smaller log to start burning and shortly after it was incinerating. The larger log provided significant pressure on the small log and once the integrity of the log collapsed, the large log started to fall straight down. Wheeler had hoped that it didn't fall one side first because that would just cause it to start down a path he didn't want it to. It fell under the water temporarily, popping back up and slowly made its way towards Ma-Ti and Wheeler. Ma-Ti made himself ready on the rock to make sure that it was secure and all Wheeler could do was to brace himself for impact. He had to make sure that the log didn't continue past the small landing that there was on his side of the river. It would take everything he had, especially considering that he was injured, to stop the log but he had to do it if he was going to save Ma-Ti.

In what seemed to take forever, the log made its way towards them and it impacted the rock Ma-Ti was on first. Ma-Ti threw his body on to the log and held on as hard as he could. Luckily, there was a branch sticking up which he could latch onto. The log, stopped by the rock, whipped around towards Wheeler now as it thundered into the landing. Wheeler threw his body up against it and cried out when he felt a pop in his shoulder. He must have dislocated or broken it but he couldn't stop as the log had bounced away from him but was not secure. He threw his body back against the log, wedging the log up against the roots of a nearby willow tree and winced in pain when his shoulder re-impacted. It hurt so badly that he couldn't even bring himself to cry out and simply endured the pain in silence.

"Hurry!" Wheeler managed, as loudly as he could and it must have been loud enough for Ma-Ti as he could see as he hurriedly scrambled his way up the log and straddled himself atop. He pushed forward and slowly started shimmying his way across it. The log was beginning to crumble under the pressure of the water behind it and it started giving way on the far side, slipping towards the two Planeteers.

Ma-Ti's short snagged on a branch about half way along. Wheeler could feel the log rotate and knew that Ma-Ti wouldn't be able to make it at this rate. He quickly used his good arm to pull himself up the log and started to stand up. He walked forward while balancing as fast as he dared. He could feel he was unsteady but had to save little Ma-Ti. He reached the young man and went down to his knees. He reached forward and yanked roughly on his shorts, ripping them but also freeing him from the bondage. He stood and lifted Ma-Ti up with him, almost too easily, as if he was lifting a set of weights. He turned as safely as he could and started walking back toward the bank with Ma-Ti right behind him.

Suddenly, he felt the entire log lurch downstream before stopping again. He turned his head and saw that the log was about to give way on the rock, it was only a matter of seconds. He quickly grabbed Ma-Ti by the shirt and threw him as hard as he could toward the landing. It was about a metre away and the adrenaline rush in his body was enough to get Ma-Ti there. He stepped back and was about to make the jump himself but just as he moved his foot back, the log gave way and he lost his balance. He started falling backwards and he was hit with the realisation that he'd never be able to hold Linka in his arms again as his head and back smashed against the water, pulling him under the surface.

Ma-Ti had never been thrown like that in his life and it took him by so much surprise that it took him a moment to realise what had happened. He turned his head and saw that the huge log was starting to travel down the river with the water current and Wheeler was nowhere to be seen. He stood immediately and went into a panic, fearing that Wheeler had fallen in to the water.

"No! Wheeler!" he yelled out, unable to do anything to help if he had fallen. He grabbed at the log in vain, trying to stop it from its inevitable destination but he was nowhere near strong enough to hold it back against these kinds of forces. He sank to his knees in the mud and smashed his fists against the water before him, yelling and crying and screaming. He could no longer sense Wheeler with his ring and knew that he was gone.


End file.
